The Aurora University men's cross-country team finished 11th in a 35-team field on Friday evening at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational. The meet was hosted by Augustana College at Saukie Golf Course, which will also be the site of the 2013 Midwest Regional championship.
 
The Spartans were led by freshmen Matt Meyers and Jimmy Baeskens. Baeskens trailed Meyers by as much as seven seconds halfway through the race, but caught and passed Meyers before Meyers had the stronger final 400 meters. The precocious duo finished 38th and 40th in 26:17 and 26:18, respectively.
 
Other solid performances in the pack included sophomore Nick Quiroz, who ran 27:19, good for 117th overall and third on the squad. The last scorer, thirty seconds back of Quiroz, was his classmate Calvin Robinson (27:55, 154t). Dan Morgan (28:18) and junior Matt Swanson (28:56) both set personal bests at the meet.
 
Much of the rest of the Spartans' young squad—22 of the 42 athletes on the team are freshmen—will look to rebound in October.

Head coach Ryan Chapman said that "It's fun having a young team, but there are growing pains sometimes. We're excited to see what we can the next few weeks."

Next action for the Spartan cross country team comes on Saturday, October 5 when they travel to the Wisconsin Lutheran Warrior Invitational. Meet time is set for noon at Greenfield Park in West Allis, Wis.