The Master’s University Cross Country teams had an enormous amount of personal bests fall at the UCR Highlander Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 18 in Riverside.

The Mustangs had two top-15 finishes with Brogan Collins finishing in sixth and Suzie Johnson in 11th.

On the men’s side, the Mustangs got out to a hot start with two runners at the front with Collins (23:46) and Jack Anderson (24:11) following him in 20th. The Mustangs moved up over thirty spots, enroute to a fourth place finish in a strong field. Six out of the top eight men ran personal bests.

“Just one of those days where you have to sit back and say ‘So cool that everyone is running this fast,'” Head Coach Daniel Rush said. “Brogan just did something that I don’t know if any true freshman has ever done in the NAIA, running 23:46.”

Collins’ time of 23:46 is ranked third all-time in TMU history. Emmanuel De Leon continued to build on a breakout season with a 20-second personal best to run 24:29. Other standout efforts included Timothy Anderson with a 30-second personal best and Bauer Hollman with a 20-second personal record.

The women had a strong finish, defeating Embry-Riddle, which had just beat TMU and jumped it in the NAIA rankings. Johnson lead the way with a 35-second personal best. All but two of the women who raced earned a personal record as the TMU women finished in 16th overall in the team score.

Brooke Creagan moved up almost 50 spots across the 6000m race to finish with a PR. Clara Most also ran a huge personal best and moved up 40 spots into the top-five. TMU did all of this with senior All-American Emma Nelson running conservatively due to injury.

“By far the best race of the year so far,” Rush said. “Unreal PRs, this is one of those days where people’s hard work pays off. The team’s culture and love was really on display here.”

TMUXC will next compete at the GSAC Championships in Glendale, Ariz. beginning on Nov. 7.

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