The men’s cross-country team finished third out of 16 teams in the college/junior college division of the Southern Stampede hosted by Missouri Southern State University Saturday in Joplin. The BU women finished 10th out of 20 teams.

Junior Jamie Steury led Baker on the men’s side and finished just outside the top 10, in 12th, with a time of 26:51 in the 8K race. Right behind Steury for Baker was sophomore Joe Linder, who finished in 27 minutes flat and took 16th place. Junior Corey Matteson was the only other Baker runner to crack the top 25 with a time of 27:09, finishing 23rd.

Three other Baker men finished in one big group in the middle of the pack. Senior Gunnar Hayes finished 35th and juniors Andrew Dare and Andrew Emanuels were neck-and-neck in 40th and 41st. Freshmen Stephen Deveau and Cole Stallard and sophomore Joshua Bostick were the final Baker runners to finish in the top 100.

The BU men finished third behind Kansas Wesleyan University and the Missouri University of Science and Technology. This is the second consecutive third-place finish for the men this season.

On the women’s side sophomore Rosie Hollis led the way for Baker again. After finishing as the individual champion at the Maple Leaf Invitational, Hollis ended the Southern Stampede in fourth place with a time of 19:04 in the 5K. Hollis has already been named the Heart Runner of the Week once this season and has a chance at a second this week.

After that only one Baker runner finished in the top 50. Freshman Jenna Black took 48th place. Sophomore Brenda McCollum ended the morning run in 62nd, freshman Madison Dispensa in 64th, junior Shelby Stephens in 90th and sophomore Caitlin Apollo in 92nd. No other Wildcats finished in the top 100.

The women’s 10th-place finish was four spots worse than their sixth place finish at this event last season. The men dropped one spot after finishing second in 2014.

Baker ran in the college/junior college division of the Southern Stampede, but the event also featured larger universities and programs. In the university/open division, the race featured runners from the University of Arkansas, Missouri State University, Dallas Baptist University, the University of San Diego and Pittsburg State University.

Net Saturday both teams will run in the Roy Griak Invite in Minneapolis, Minnesota, hosted by the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota. Griak worked for the Golden Gophers’ cross-country program for more than 50 years and served as the head coach from 1963-1996. Griak died on July 9 and the event is dedicated to him.