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EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The SIUE men's cross country team stuck to its plan of running in a pack as it had five runners finish in the top seven Friday night at the SIUE Cross Country Challenge.

"The guys looked amazing," said SIUE Head Coach Eileen McAllister. "They did exactly what they were supposed to do. They packed up, ran together, and fed off each other's energy."

Led by senior Marc Amarillas' time of 26 minutes, 11.16 seconds, in the 8,000-meter event, the Cougars defeated all four of its opponents in the dual scoring format of the meet.

SIUE topped Ohio Valley Conference foe SEMO (16-39), Western Illinois (20-38), Washington University in St. Louis (15-41), and McKendree (15-49).

"I thought all of the teams matched up pretty well as far as just having a great meet," added McAllister.

Junior Aaron Werths earned a third-place finish with a personal-best time of 26:17.86 while senior Shawn Dillard followed right behind his teammate in fourth place in 26:23.63.

Sophomore Campbell Walters provided some excitement at the finish line as he narrowly edged Nate Shipley of SEMO by .02 seconds for fifth place overall. Walters crossed the finish line in 26:24.77 setting a personal best in the process.

Right on the heels of the main pack was Nick Moore. The Cougar freshman, who led SIUE in its season opener, finished seventh overall in a time of 26:29.42.

Sophomore J.D. Wynn also recorded a personal record as he placed 21st overall traversing the 8K in 27:29.21 while junior Frankie Sottosanto made his debut for the Cougars finishing 42nd with a time of 29:08.11.

Junior Marc Presley also ran for SIUE placing 45th in a time of 31:06.24.

"We had PRs but more importantly team-wise, we did an outstanding job," said McAllister.

The Cougars next compete in Louisville, Ky., at the Greater Louisville Classic on Oct. 1.

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