EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – SIUE men's and women's cross country hosted the Cougar XC Challenge Friday, marking the Cougars' first home meet in seven years. The women's team finished second of four teams, while the men only had three runners available to compete, making them unable to qualify for a team score.
 
In the women's 5k, junior Erica Woodard led the way for the Cougars, taking third place out of 31 runners with a time of 19:38.3. Junior Emilee Franklin also earned a top-10 result, finishing ninth overall at 20:22.2.
 
SIUE then placed their next seven runners between 11^th and 18^th overall, followed by Arianna Neisen claiming 22^nd, and Lexi Kampwerth finishing 27^th.
 
On the men's side, junior Jack Willenborg had a strong showing in the 8k, finishing seventh among a field of 29 runners with a time of 27:34.8. Aaron Conderman followed close behind, claiming 11^th overall with a time of 28:40.7, while AJ Ince took 15^th overall at 29:26.9.
 
The Cougars will have two weeks to prepare for their next meet, traveling to Indiana State for the Nike XC Town Twilight.