Wildcats Complete Final Tune-Up at Blazing Tiger Classic

ASHLAND, Neb. – Baker cross country wrapped up the regular season portion of its 2025 campaign, competing at the Blazing Tiger Classic in Ashland, Neb. on Saturday morning.

Both Wildcat squads finished 21st in the team standings with the women's team totaling 539 points and the men's team 565 points. The competition featured at least 26 teams in each race and a combined 616 runners.

As the first to cross the finish line for BU, Ellie Barnard turned in her fastest 6K performance of the season, clocking a 23:28.95 to place 56th in the race. Jana Landreth recorded a time of 24:15.91, narrowly missing her career-best 24:04.04 from last year's Heart Championship by 11 seconds.

Natalie Kennedy (24:29.80) finished a few spots behind Landreth in 105th, while Haley Thompson (26:28.76) and Sam Slife (26:37.76) rounded out the scoring for BU in a field that featured over 270 runners.

On the men's side, Jacob McGlasson (26:55.83) led the Wildcats and broke the 27-minute mark in the 8K for the first time this fall, building momentum heading into the conference meet in a couple of weeks. Luke Persson was the next runner to cross for BU, coming in at the 27:08.48 mark.

Grant Gogis (27:30.41), Michael Knaussman (27:30.98) and Cutter Meade (27:32.92) each finished in alternating spots from 159-163, with Knaussman placing 161st.

Saturday marked the end of a five-meet regular season for the Wildcats, who strung together back-to-back team titles this fall with first-place finishes at the Grand View Invite (Sept. 20) and BU's Mike Spielman Classic (Oct. 17).

Baker will turn its attention to the 2025 Heart of America Conference Championships, which is set for November 8 at the Seminole Valley Cross Country Course in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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