TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The UIC cross country teams toed the line in postseason Friday morning, making the program's first-ever appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships. As a team, the UIC women finished sixth out of a 12-team field while the men took seventh out of 11 teams.
 
"We are extremely proud of how we performed as a team and fought hard to compete at a high level today," said interim head coach Paul Zavala. "We are looking forward to building on this experience to be ready to perform in two weeks at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championship."
 
The women, who entered the conference meet picked to finish seventh, outperformed the expectation by one slot thanks to strong running from a core of veterans. Teresa Mejia paced the team to a top-20 finish, finishing 19^th overall with a time of 22:17.5. Cailyn Persinger followed 30 seconds behind Mejia with a time of 22:47.6 to finish 32^nd overall and earn 31 points for the team.
 
Emma Creviston was four positions behind Persinger with a time of 22:59.0 (36^th place, 35 points), while Jenna Boyle followed 0.4 seconds later in 22:59.4 (38^th place, 37 points). Rosie Campbell-Watt rounded out UIC's scoring with a 48^th-place finish (46 points), crossing the line in 23:14.6.
 
Freshman Daniel Chavez once again paced the men's team, finishing just outside the top-20. Making his conference championship debut, Chavez posted a time of 25:07.1 to finish 21^st overall. Dathan Maton was hot on his tail, coming through the finish four seconds later (25:11.2) to place 24^th overall.
 
Mark Lemke finished 32^nd overall with a time of 25:23.8 to be UIC's third finisher Friday morning, while Alex Bacci followed came in 15 seconds later. The freshman crossed the line in 25:38.0 to claim 38^th points. Drey Maton rounded out UIC's scoring with a 43^rd-place effort (25:50.5).
 
The Flames will be back in action in two weeks, competing at the NCAA Midwest Regional. The University of Missouri will serve as this year's host, with racing set to take place on Friday, Nov. 11.