On a beautiful morning in Point Lookout, Missouri on Saturday, men’s and women’s cross country added two more NCCAA championship banners. The men won their second consecutive title, and the women took home their first championship in program history. Junior Gabe Plendcio also took home his second straight individual title, and sophomore Makenna Mason placed third to lead the women’s team.

TITLE DEFENSE

Plendcio defended his title in the 8k event, running a time of 25:35 to claim the individual championship by nearly 30 seconds. Not too far behind him in fourth was sophomore Ryan St. Pierre, who finished in a time of 26:22. Freshman Jared Donnel had a fantastic showing, coming in fifth place just three seconds behind St. Pierre at 26:25.

Coming in seventh was sophomore Giovanni Orellana with a time of 26:36, and freshman Brady DeHaven followed just behind in eighth with a 26:37. Sophomore Christian Perez notched a 13th place finish with a 26:52, and junior Nic Nelson rounded out the Eagles’ runners in 16th place with a time of 27:08.

FIRST TITLE

Sophomore Makenna Mason paced the Eagles’ women’s team, running a time of 18:55 in the 5k event to finish third overall. Freshman Clara Haynes continued her stellar season with a fifth place finish time of 19:19, while senior Emily Ransom came right on her heels in sixth with a 19:31.

Junior Amanda Reyes notched a seventh place finish with 19:37, followed by junior Micaela Pullman in eighth with a 19:40. Rounding out the women’s runners in 10th and 11th place were junior Kaili Waller and sophomore Kaitlin Natividad who ran a 19:43 and 19:45, respectively.

FINISHING STRONG

The men claimed the title with 25 points, and the women took home the championship with 29 points.

Both teams will be adding two more banners to the rafters of Chase Gymnasium in the near future.