PEORIA, Ill. – Mckendree men's cross country team earned sixth place at the Bradley Intercollegiate meet Friday evening. This finish marks a significant improvement for the team in comparison with last year, where they placed 12th.
The Bearcats had a 1:52 spread among their top five runners, with junior Diego Paz Dennis leading the team with a 25th-place finish with 27:22.2. He was followed by sophomore Reed Florey, who placed 35th in 28:09.4, and sophomore Ayden Forbis, who finished 38th in 28:20.1. Closing out McKendree's scoring five were freshmen Anthony Tillman and Cole Dachsteiner, who placed 50th and 54th, respectively, with times of 29:06.4 and 29:13.5 in their 8K debuts. Freshman Brendan Santellan finished close behind in 56th place with a time of 29:15.7, also in his first collegiate 8K, while sophomore Ryder Ottolini placed 82nd in 30:59.8.
The team's average time was 28:56, nearly a full minute faster than last year's 29:44 at this event. The team also had six athletes break the 30-minute barrier, three more than at last year's 8K season opener.
2026 Bradley Intercollegiate Final Standings:
Bradley – 25 pts
Grinnell – 64 pts
Drake – 89 pts
Dubuque – 117 pts
Indian Hills CC – 122 pts
Mckendree – 177 pts
Coe – 237 pts
Greenville – 245 pts
Kaskaskia College – 245 pts
Illinois College – 298 pts
Carl Sandburg College – 301 pts
Blackburn – 341 pts
Knox – 342 pts
Eureka – 363 pts
McKendree's cross country team will compete Saturday, October 10th, at the Brian T. Simpson Invite, at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course.
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