The women's and men's cross country teams raced in the highly competitive USC Upstate Invite in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

"Today, we truly needed a standout performance, and the team delivered," Head Coach Ken Roach said. "Finishing strong has been a challenge for us, but through dedicated effort, we've made significant strides in addressing it."

The women's 5k began at 9:00 a.m. as the sun was still rising over the Milliken Aboretum course, known to be one of the best courses in South Carolina. The terrain presents a challenge to any racer and the atmosphere is always great. The Bruins top five stayed consistent to their last race in Greensboro. Lauren Jones ran so well and dropped almost a whole minute off of her last time. She crossed the finish line with a season best time of 20:29. Kristen Dodds and Lillian Strange came next only two positions apart. Dodds finished strong to a sub-22 time of 21:53 while Strange came soon after at 22:01. Hannah Cohen was the Bruins fourth finished at 22:26 followed by Cora Gagne closing out the top five at 22:40. To round out the Bruins race, Samantha Jones finished at 23:03 and Liz Farley finished at 23:18. The team came in 19th place out of 23 teams in a stacked lineup.

Shortly after, the men's team stepped to the starting line for a 9:45 a.m. gun. The team was shorthanded with a couple injured runners, so the only five runners for the Bruins were the five scorers. Judah Nash continues to break out in his freshman season and improves his personal best to 27:35. James Baer also came in with a great time at 28:44, a big confidence boost going forward. The last three runners for the Bruins all came in within six seconds; that is what runners call a "pack mentality." Daniel Kyle was the third runner finishing at 29:09 which is his season best. Luke VanDenBerghe continues his strong surge this season with a personal best of 29:14. Levi Gerbitz closed the Bruins top five just a second later at 29:15 for his season best time. The great team race led to a 18th place finish out of 22 teams.

The support by Bruin nation was great with it being a local race. So many fans and other athletes were able to come out and cheer on the Bruins, and that definitely made a difference.

"I'm incredibly proud of everyone—they battled through a tough race and achieved their best race yet," said Coach Roach. "While there's still room for improvement, but I'm excited about the training ahead to build on this momentum."

Full results for the USC Upstate Invite can be found here.

This was the last meet until the Bruins head to the NCCAA National Championship in Joplin, Missouri in just less than a month on November 14. The course in Joplin has many similarities to Spartanburg's, and the Bruins will look to carry the momentum and confidence from today to compete for another national championship.