SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Drury men's and women's cross country teams post third place finishes at the Queen City Classic.
 
The men's cross country team ran an 8K and placed third of four teams in the event. Ethan Haynes was the frontrunner for the Panthers, finishing ninth with a final time of 25:59. Following right behind him was junior Trent Patterson, who earned 10^th with a time of 26:02. Junior Taylor Harris also had a strong showing, placing 19^th with a final time of 27:17. 
 
The women's cross country team competed in a 5K and placed third of five teams in Springfield. Cera Eckenroth was the frontrunner for the Panthers, finishing second with a time of 17:52. Eckenroth's time is Drury's sixth-fastest 5K in school history. Junior Georgi Carolus finished 23^rd with a time of 19:30. Rounding out Drury's top three, Jasmyn Douglas finished with a final time of 19:55. 
 
Tyler Harris (unattached) won the race at home, beating Tanner Bailey from Ozarks in the final stretch of the race, finishing with a time of 25:08. On the women's side, Natalie Gerdes from Southwest Baptist finished in first with a time of 17:47.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Taylor Harris improved his time from last year's race in Springfield, going from 27:58 to 27:17. 
• Tanner Clippard finished 23^rd (27:53), James Sly placed 25^th (28:13), and Tradjun Moss finished 30^th (28:37) to complete Drury's top six times. 
• Cera Eckenroth moves to sixth-fastest all-time in the 5K with her time of 17:52. 
• Senior Morgan Miller finished 32^nd and improved her time from last year, going from 20:58 to 20:15.
• Josephine Rathsam placed 34^th (20:20) and Alexis Workman finished 35^th (20:24) to round out Drury's top six times. 

 
QUOTABLE
"I am very excited with how both races went today," head cross country coach Luke Karamitros stated. "The men ran well in a pack today and saw some great efforts from them. For the women, I was really proud of how they stepped up. It was great to see Cera Eckenroth compete for the win at the end. We have a couple of weeks before our next event to reflect and build on how our first couple of races went."

UP NEXT
Drury returns to action Saturday, Oct. 4, with a 10:25 a.m. competition at the Chile Pepper Festival hosted by Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark.

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