Seventy-three athletes from eight schools competed in this year’s men’s 8th annual Prairie Star Invitational on the campus of the University of Illinois at Springfield on Friday, September 8. The Blackburn College men’s team raced five athletes and finished in 8th in the overall team standings. Host, UIS, captured the first four individual places and took first place with a near-perfect score of 16 points.

The top four Blackburn runners lowered their mile pace in this race from last week’s season opener even though the race distance increased from six to seven kilometers. Senior captain, Luis Alvarado, turned in an impressive performance, running the course in 27:18, which represents a 6:16 mile pace. Freshman, Collyn Oberkfell, was the second Blackburn finisher with an impressive race of his own, finishing in just around thirty-five minutes. Freshman, Ulises Espinoza, gave his second consecutive strong performance and finished third for Blackburn in 39:04. Junior, Marco Nova, also improved his time from the last meet finishing fourth for Blackburn running in 39:52. Freshman, Steven Allen, running his first-ever cross country race rounded completed the scoring for Blackburn as the fifth finisher for the team.

The Men’s Cross Country team is set for their next meet in two weeks, Friday, September 22, when they travel to Lebanon, Illinois, to compete at the McKendree Bearcat Classic.