COLUMBIA, Mo. – The McKendree men's cross country team finished sixth at the Brian T. Simpson Invite on Saturday morning. Nearly every Bearcat left Columbia with a new personal best added to their records.
Junior Diego Paz Denis led the way for the Bearcats, placing 22nd with a new personal best of 26:55.2. Sophomore Reed Florey followed in 44th place with a time of 27:32.6. Freshmen Anthony Tillman and Cole Dachsteiner finished 51st and 53rd, respectively, in 27:53.3 and 27:57.0, with both runners improving their personal bests by more than a minute. Rounding out the Bearcats' scoring five was freshman Brendan Santellan, who placed 69th in 28:38.5 after running the first 5K of the race 20 seconds faster than his previous 5K personal best, with another 3K still to go. Sophomore Elijah Baer placed 75th with a new personal best of 28:56.1. Senior Ostin Habeck followed in 80th place with a time of 29:10.9, also setting a new personal best. Sophomore Ryder Ottolini finished 89th in 30:02.0, improving his previous personal best by a full minute.
The team's average time improved by 45 seconds to 28:10, while the top five scorers averaged 27:48. The Bearcats also reduced their team spread to 1:44, demonstrating a much more compact and consistent group compared to their last appearance at the Brian T. Simpson Invite in 2024. At that meet, the team recorded an average time of 30:27.54 and a spread of approximately eight minutes
2026 Brian T. Simpson Final Scores:
1. Central Missouri – 22 pts
2. Missouri S&T – 49 pts
3. Truman – 86 pts
4. Drury – 129 pts
5. Park U. – 130 pts
6. Mckendree – 161 pts
7. State Fair CC – 189 pts
8. Central Methodist – 230 pts
9. Quincy – 237 pts
The McKendree cross country team will compete next on Friday, October 16th, at the Greenville Classic.
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