Wildcat Men Place Sixth, Women Seventh at 2025 Heart Championships

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Baker cross country came away with a sixth-place finish on the men's side and a seventh-place showing on the women's as the Wildcats competed at the 2025 Heart Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

The championship event was hosted by Mount Mercy and held at the Seminole Valley Cross Country Course in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Baker took sixth in the men's standings after totaling 216 points, missing out on a top five that saw Park (25) claim its first-ever conference title. BU and Clarke both finished with 216 points, but the Wildcats pushed ahead on the sixth-runner tiebreaker.

Jacob McGlasson (26:13.8) and Michael Knaussman (26:18.2) led the BU men and finished in back-to-back spots, respectively, at 43rd and 44th. Both runners marked personal-best times in their final 8K race of the season.

The Wildcats' three remaining scorers all finished under the 27-minute mark, with Luke Persson running a 26:26.7 and placing 51st, followed by Grant Gogis (26:43.0) in 58th and Grayson Fink (26:53.1) in 65th.
In the women's 6K race, Baker finished with 198 points in a competitive 14-team field that was topped by Benedictine's title-clinching performance.

Ellie Barnard almost notched her second straight top-25 finish at the conference meet, settling for a 26th-place finish after clocking her fastest 6K time ever at 23:02.7. Jana Landreth (23:14.4) wasn't too far behind, crossing in 31st and adding 27 points to BU's total.

Natalie Kennedy (23:54.7), Haley Thompson (25:06.8) and Sam Slife (25:10.7) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcat women. Kennedy placed 47th, Thompson took 68th and Slife finished in 72nd.

Baker closes out a 2025 campaign that saw the Wildcats earn back-to-back team titles with first-place finishes at the Grand View Invite (Sept. 20) and their own Mike Spielman Classic (Oct. 17).

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