The Southeast Missouri Cross country teams competed at the EIU Walt Crawford Invitational in Charleston, Illinois Friday afternoon. 

The men's team finished the 8k race fourth out of six teams racking up 95 points across the top 5 finishers. Eastern Illinois took the title with 37 points beating out Moorhead State who collected 44 points. 

"The teams executed our plan the way we wanted to," said coach Ryan Lane. "We ran with a nice crisp rhythm, and they were able to get a preview of the course for the conference meet later in the season. They all pack ran and worked together both men and women put themselves to have a better understanding of the course while also putting in the work we needed to compete next week."

The top eight runners for SEMO all finished within 33 seconds of each other. 

Nick Cimmarusti finished in 15^th place with a time of 26:25.5 to pace the squad ahead of Garrett Dumke in 16^thwith a time of 26:28.9. Evan Fuller finished third for the Redhawks finishing in 21^st in 26:43.8. 

Trey Mygatt set a personal best for the second consecutive meet finishing the race in 23^rd place with a time of 26:47.9. Rounding out the scorers for SEMO was Byron Sowerby in 25^th with a mark of 26:48.9. 

Other finishers for the Redhawks included Ian Schwierjohn (27^th, 26:52.9), Myles Thornburg (29, 26:28.5), Sam Rinehart (30^th, 26:58.6), Jacob Blassingame (35^th, 27:10.1), Clayton Eftink (41^st, 27:29.1) and racing for the first time this season was Tyler Anderson who finished in 51^st with a time of 28:27.2. 

"Our men have a lot of younger guys running strong to join our seniors," Lane said. "We are excited to see how the next seven weeks accumulate."

The women's team finished the 6k race in fourth as well, out of seven teams, collecting 90 points. Eastern Illinois won the meet collecting 17 points. 

The top five finishers for the Redhawks finished within two seconds of each other.

Lexie Dockstader led the squad finishing in 16^th place in 23:19.6. Layla Fliege finished in second for SEMO finishing 17^th in 23:20.0. There was a tie for 18^th between Daphne Bishop and Lauren Eftink both running the race in 23:20.1. Julia Martinez Dura wrapped up the scoring finishing in 20^th in 23:22.8. 

Other finishers for the team included Kayla Vogelsang (23^rd, 23:27.9), Erika Mellor (25^th, 23:28.9), Mattea Pearsall (30^th, 23:45.9), Alayna Sparr (32^nd, 23:56.0), Ceyda Bayur (33^rd, 24:04.0) and Claire Horstman (24:27.6). 

"Our women are in a really good spot with depth," Lane said. "Once we get Nova back, we are excited to see what our team results will be."
The Redhawks will return to racing next week September 12^th when they travel to Normal, Illinois to compete in the Redbird Invite hosted by Illinois State University.