Casart finishes as top NAIA runner at Wildcat Classic

WAYNE, Neb. -- Chris Casart picked up a medalist finish to lead the Bellevue University men's cross country team to a fourth place finish at the Wayne State Wildcat Classic on Friday evening.

Recap:

Chris Casart led the Bruins with a 10^th place finish, the best of all NAIA runners in the field, in a time of 27:34.76.

Bellevue finished fourth overall, just three points behind Wayne State for third place, and cruised past Mount Marty – the only other NAIA team in the field – by 31 points.

Edrei Murillo (28:04.05) and Cole Wagner (28:24.22) both showed improvement, running season-best times on Friday, finishing in 16^th and 20^th place, respectively.

Gerardo Najera was next across the line for the Bruins in 22^nd place with a time of 28:46.23 while Aaron Newton (31^st) and Salah Hilowle (36^th) rounded out the BU lineup with times of 30:26.12 and 31:55.56.

Minnesota State-Moorhead took home the team title in dominating fashion, sweeping the first seven spots, to route second place South Dakota School of Mines 15-62.

Coach Craig Christians:

"We did a nice job competing with a mostly Division II field and had an individual medalist in each race which is a testament to our improvement. For the second week in a row we ran solid races with both teams and I am very pleased with the consistency that we are starting to show."

Up Next:

The Bruins next race at the Briar Cliff Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 5. Start time is scheduled for 10 a.m.