The Millikin men's and women's cross country teams turned in strong performances at the 1Prairie Stars Invitational on Friday, September 5 in Springfield, Illinois. Against a deep field of NCAA Division II, Division III, and community college programs, both squads placed in the top three, with the women finishing third and the men claiming runner-up honors.

On the women's side, Millikin tallied 85 points to secure third place, trailing only the University of Illinois-Springfield and Truman State. Sophomore Brooklynn Sweikar led the Big Blue with a 13th-place finish in 19:16.94 on the 5K course. Freshman Brynn Behrmann finished 19th (19:51.80), followed by Lindsey Klaus in 21st (19:54.75). Rounding out the top five for Millikin were Kiley Coker (20th, 20:22.72) and Teyla Wendt (21st, 20:24.11).

The Millikin men's team earned a second-place finish with 61 points, finishing behind only Illinois-Springfield. Sophomore Reece Peters set the pace for the Big Blue, placing second overall in 21:52.29 on the 7K course. Veteran returners Brock Richards (11th, 22:39.35), Joshua Lachance (14th, 22:55.33), and Joey McGinn (16th, 23:02.13) provided a strong scoring pack. Freshman Ryne Norton sealed the top five with an 18th-place finish in 23:09.70.

The Big Blue will return to action next when they compete at the Gil Dodds Invitational on September 20, continuing to build momentum in the early stretch of the 2025 season.