Baker Cross Country Claims Both Titles at 2025 Mike Spielman Classic

BALDWIN CITY – For the fourth straight season, Baker cross country earned a sweep at its annual home finale as the BU men's and women's teams each came away with a first-place finish at the 2025 Mike Spielman Classic on Friday evening.

Racing in beautiful conditions out at the Baldwin City Golf Course, the Wildcat women posted a combined time of 2:10:26.24 to win the women's 6K competition with 29 points, while the men's squad totaled a team time of 2:22:23.59 to claim top honors in the 8K with 37 points.

Ellie Barnard (24:32.07) came out on top on the women's side for her first individual title of the season, leading a pack of 24 runners. Barnard was a national qualifier last year and has posted back-to-back solid outings with a sixth-place finish at the Grand View Invite a few weeks ago.

Barnard was the first of a 1-2-3 finish for BU in the 6K as Natalie Kennedy (25:03.08) and Jana Landreth (25:11.47) followed closely behind to place second and third, respectively. Sam Slife and Haley Thompson rounded out the scoring with Slife running a 27:27.99 and finishing 11th, while Thompson went 28:11.63 and took 13th.

The men's 8K race featured another string of Wildcats near the top with Luke Persson (27:56.97), Jacob McGlasson (27:59.21) and Cutter Meade (28:11.87) finishing in consecutive order in third, fourth and fifth.

Grayson Fink (29:01.38) and Grant Gogis (29:14.16) were the final two scorers for BU with Fink placing 11th and Sterner finishing in 14th.

Up next, Baker will close out the 2025 regular season with the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic on Oct. 25 in Ashland, Neb.

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