Coming off their first-place finishes at the Washington University Early Bird meet, the men’s and women’s cross country teams headed twenty minutes down the road to compete in the Maryville Classic this past Saturday. Both teams placed first in the meet, receiving perfect scores of fifteen.

Currently No. 4 in the nation, the women’s team dominated the seven-team field. The five Bears’ scorers placed in the top five and were only separated by 55 seconds. Junior Liz Phillips led the team with a 5K time of 20:30, while freshman Sarah Fisher was right on her heels, finishing with a time of 20:31. Seniors Jess Londeree and Taryn Surtees and junior Erica Jackey capped off the top five with times of 20:43, 20:46 and 21:25 respectively.

“Although it wasn’t a really competitive meet, it shows that good things are to come in the future,” Phillips said. “We did a great job of closing the gap between our runners, which I was really excited about.”

Wash. U.’s neighbor, Fontbonne University, placed second behind the Bears with a score of 84 points. This marks the second year in a row the Wash. U. women’s team placed first at the Maryville Classic.

The men’s team, No. 1 in the nation, lived up to its reputation with a perfect score. Just like the women’s team, the first two finishers for the Bears were neck and neck at the finish line. Senior Erik Hinrichsen took first with an 8K time of 28:19, and senior Alden Black finished in the same second to quickly snatch second place. The next three Red and Green finishers, the tight pack of junior Michael Burnstein (28:48), freshman Dalton Guthrie (28:51) and junior Tucker Hartley (28:52), completed the race in third, fourth and fifth, respectively. The team beat second-place finisher Maryville by 61 points.

As with the women’s team, this is the second year in a row the men have taken first in this race.

Despite the perfect finishes, the Bears downplayed the victory. “I don’t think the perfect score meant all that much because of the competition at the meet,” Burnstein said. “But the experience was worthwhile because the course was extremely difficult.”

The course, picked by Maryville University, was designed to showcase the redeveloped areas of the campus. This made the run very challenging, as it led runners through heavy woodchips, long grass and even a stream.

“It will really prepare us for the tough conference course at the [University Athletic Association] championships in New York,” Burnstein said.

Both teams will be competing again on Saturday, Sept. 25, in the Southern Illinois Saluki Invitational.