GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Men's and women's cross country both ran at the NAIA Great Lakes challenge, where the men placed sixth of 22 teams, and the women placed fourth of 20. Jesse Songo also won his third consecutive race and remains undefeated at the collegiate level. 

Women - 4th of 20

Presley Allen led the women's team in their 5k with a time of 19:14, putting her in 10th place. Kassandra Ortega finished right behind in 11th with a time of 19:18. Picking up third for the Leafs was Caroline Jelimo in 29th, who achieved a time of 19:49. Completing the top five for the Leafs was Marin Kauffman Smith and Ella Armstrong, in 43rd and 73rd respectively. Kauffman Smith finished the day with a time of 20:10 and Armstrong ran a 20:50.

Men - 6th of 22

Jesse Songo earned win number three with a time of 24:07, second in GC history only to his own time from his last race. Jacob Friesen had a phenomenal run for the Leafs, taking the number two spot in 12th with a time of 24:33 — this was a PR for him of more than 26 seconds. It was also the fastest time run by a senior in program history, displacing the record set 10 years ago. Duncan Kogei followed close behind in 14th with a 24:41, still earning a spot as one of the top 15 times in program history. Drew Hogan was number four for the Leafs with a time of 25:37 for 82nd place. Rounding out the top five for the Leafs was Bruno Kipsang in 115th with a 26:08, and Peter Moser followed just nine seconds behind to finish 121st. 

This is the second fastest meet day in GC history, second only to Notre Dame just a few weeks ago, and all of the top five times, no matter how they get combined, were better results than this meet last year. 

The Maple Leafs, both men and women, are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 6 as they travel back to Taylor for the Crossroads League Championship, a spot a nationals up for grabs — that race will get started at 10 a.m.