West Central Reporter

The Western Illinois University men's and women's cross country teams participated in their second meet of the season at the Huskie Opener, hosted by Northern Illinois at the North 40 Course in DeKalb. The event took place on Friday night.

In the women's category, Western Illinois secured a third-place finish with a total of 64 points. DePaul emerged victorious with 29 points. Madison Trevena led the Leathernecks, finishing fifth overall on the 5K course with a time of 18:35.72. Following her was Maleigha Huston, who finished 11th overall with a time of 19:08.98. Kinze Kirkland-Shea also placed within the top 15, securing the 14th position in 19:34.67.

Lydia Bennett and Greta Sieren were among Western Illinois' top five finishers, placing 19th and 21st respectively with times of 20:15.14 and 20:30.02. Ava Gorrie completed her race in 20:32.40 for a 22nd-place finish, while Hannah Steinmeyer concluded WIU's participation by finishing in 31st place with a time of 21:33.25.

On the men's side, Western Illinois achieved a second-place team finish with a score of 45 points as DePaul claimed first place with just 20 points.

Logan Lommel and Logan Beckmier were standout performers for Western Illinois, finishing second and third overall in their four-mile race with times of 19:57.53 and 20:13.72 respectively. Sean Hudspath secured a top-10 spot by finishing tenth in a time of 21:18.31, while Richard Brown earned twelfth place clocking in at 22:08.34. Freshman Eason Comer rounded off Western Illinois' day by finishing nineteenth in his debut meet with a time of 23:02.78.

Western Illinois will compete next at the Redbird Invite hosted by Illinois State on September 13.