In SIU cross country’s first visit to Springfield, Missouri since 2012, the men placed sixth and the women placed seventh overall at the MVC Championship on Saturday hosted by Missouri State University.

The Salukis cross country team traveled to Springfield looking to improve on last year’s performance in the MVC Championship where the men placed eight and the women placed seventh.

The Southern men placed higher than last year as they took sixth out of nine teams in the men’s 8k with a score of 136 on a combined time of 2:10:01.11. Bradley University took the men’s event with four runners placing in the top 15, finishing with a score of 49 on a combined time of 2:05:34.03. MSU did not compete in the event.

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The Saluki women matched last year’s placing by finishing in seventh place out of ten teams in the women’s 5k with a score of 190 on a combined time of 1:34:08.92. Bradley University also took first in the women’s event, with five runners placing in the top ten, finishing with a score of 30 on a combined time of 1:28:21.20. Event sponsor Missouri State finished fifth in the event with two runners in the top 15, finishing with a score of 122 on a combined time of 1:31:24.66.

Although SIU brought seven men to the event, it was redshirt junior Josh Maier who led the team once again this season as he went on to notch another top-five performance, placing fourth out of 70 runners in the event with a time of 24:45.64 — five seconds short of his season best.

Maier was also named All-Conference First Team along with claiming the Men’s Elite 17 award for high achievement in both athletics and academics.

While the women brought six competitors with them, it was senior Claire Darnell who led the pack this time around, placing 19th out of 78 in the event with a time of 18:06.21. Redshirt sophomore Megan Krolak added another top-25 performance to her list of achievements as she went on to place 24th with a time of 18:11.03.

Up next the Salukis will head to Ames, Iowa to compete in the NCAA Midwest Regional hosted by the Iowa State Cyclones. Times for the event are TBA.

Sports reporter Dillon Gilliland can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @DillonGilliland.

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