Men's 8K Results | Women's 5K Results

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Redshirt junior Alex Baker and junior Emma Hatch earned All-MVC accolades to help lead the Loyola University Chicago cross country teams at the 2016 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championships today in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Loyola's men accumulated 131 points to narrowly edge out host Northern Iowa (132) for fifth place in the team standings. The Rambler women came in sixth with 167 points. Bradley (24) took home the men's team title, while Northern Iowa (52) claimed the women's crown.

Baker was fantastic today as he led the charge for the Rambler men in the 8K race at the Pheasant Ridge Golf Course. The Crystal Lake, Ill. native clocked an impressive time of 25:08.2 to claim ninth overall on the final individual leaderboard. For his efforts, Baker was recognized as a First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection.

Just over 40 seconds back of Baker was senior Jake Brown. Brown, out of Macon, Ill., came across in 25:48.4 to claim 23rd. Fellow senior Chandler Diffee also earned a spot in the top 30 as he posted a time of 26:16.0 to finish in 30th. Senior Jamison Dale turned in his strongest performance of the season to date as he came in 33rd at 26:30.0. Rounding out the scoring for the Ramblers today was freshman Connor McCue, who finished with a time of 26:47.1 to earn 39th.

"To take fifth overall is a solid performance but obviously still leaves us with some room for improvement," Loyola assistant cross country coach Mircea Bogdan said. "It was great to see Alex lead us today with a top-10 finish. Jamison also stepped up in a big way to help the team and his effort did not go unnoticed. Like with most races, we'll take pluses and minuses away from today and move forward towards the Midwest Regional."

Hatch paced the attack for Loyola's women for a fourth consecutive event. The Cleves, Ohio product recorded a time of 18:17.1 in the women's 5K race to finish just in front of Bradley's Sara Piller (18:17.8) in 13th place. By virtue of her finish, Hatch was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-Missouri Valley Conference selection.

Freshman Rita Maurais continued her breakout debut season with the Maroon & Gold as she crossed the finish line second for Loyola with a time of 18:37.1 to take 29th. Junior Cassie Bloch checked in at 19:00.2 to claim 38th, while freshman Laura Bestul finished in 43rd with a time of 19:10.1 Senior Hannah Lies capped off her collegiate cross country career by crossing the finish line at 19:25.8 to round out the scoring for the Ramblers on the day in 49th place.

"The ladies turned in a solid group effort," Loyola assistant cross country coach Maraya Slatter commented. "Emma continued her solid season to earn All-MVC honors and it was great to see one of our freshman, Rita, come in second for us. Hannah also executed well to earn her way into the fifth spot. Overall, today was a good experience for the group and we will now focus on the next few weeks as we prepare for the Midwest Regional."

Loyola will be idle next weekend before it travels to Iowa City, Iowa for the NCAA Midwest Regional on Nov. 11.