SOUTH BEND, IN - The Western Illinois Men's and Women's Cross Country teams finished up their race at the Joe Piane invite in South Bend on October 2nd, with the Women's team coming in 17th place of 24 teams, and the Men's team coming in 20th place of 21 teams on the day.

The Women raced first at 12:00 PM, with Karson Oberender leading the way for Western Illinois, finishing in 24th place on the day, and a time of 17.54.3, the only Leatherneck able to go sub-18 minutes on the race. Lydia Bennett was the second Leatherneck to finish, with a time of 18.16.5, followed closely by Emma-Kate Watt, who had a time of 18.20.0. Those three Leatherneck racers were the only ones to go under 19 minutes for the team, leading the way to their 17th place finish.

The Men raced at 12:40 PM, and saw Parker Quinlan lead the way, running a 25.23.6 for Western Illinois. Carter Olsen ran a 25.41.2, which was second for the team, followed closely by 25.46.8 by Blayze Havel. Eason Comer and Kade Parker rounded out the top five for the Leathernecks, taking the team to a 20th place finish.

The Leatherneck Cross Country teams will be back at Bradley on October 16th for their next race in Peoria, Illinois.

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