FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Drake University men's and women's cross country teams met their goal of continued improvement with strong showings at the Chile Pepper Invitational Saturday morning in Fayetteville, Ark.

The men's squad finished eighth in the 20-team field while the women's squad came in 12^th out of 18 teams in the perennially strong Chile Pepper Invitational field.

“This was definitely a step in the right direction at the mid-point of the season,” said Drake head coach Dan Hostager. “For the group that has been racing, it was good to get another competition under their belt. We've been getting better each week and this team has a great work ethic, so we are excited for the rest of the fall season.”

The men's top-10 finish was keyed by three Bulldogs finishing individually  in the top 100 of the 429-runner field on the 8-kilometer course. Brogan Austin (Boone, Iowa) led that charge by coming in 14^th with a season-best time of 24:24.4 followed by Rob McCann (Mississauga, Ontario) in 20^th with a time of 24:38.9.

Reed Fischer (Minnetonka, Minn.) returned from injury to come in 85^th with a 24:40.8 finish followed by Doug Brady (Englewood, Colo.) coming in 104^th in 25:55.3. Freshman Chris Kaminski (New Lenox, Ill.) completed the scoring for the Bulldogs in 120^th place.

The women's squad's 12^th-place finish was courtesy trio of top-100 finishes from the Bulldogs. Emma Huston (Des Moines, Iowa) finished 34^th out of 376 runners on the 5-kilometer course with a time of 17:24.8. Taylor Scholl (Prior Lake, Minn.) finished behind Huston in 63^rd place with a 17:59.7 finish.

Erica Bestul (Apple Valley, Minn.) turned a 99^th-place finish in 18:25.3 with Mariah Kauder (Cascade, Iowa) checking in at 109^th in 18:30.0. Melissa Parks (David City, Neb.) was the Bulldogs' final scorer in 134^th place with a time of 18:42.3.

The Bulldogs will take a week off from competition next weekend to continue their training and prepare for their next meet, the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 18 in Terre Haute, Ind.