Men's Results  | Women's Results 

NORMAL, Ill. - Strong performances by senior Jake Brown and freshman Rita Maurais highlighted the day for the Loyola University Chicago men's and women's cross country teams at the Country Financial Illinois State Invitational.

The Rambler men (146 points) and women (174) each recorded a sixth-place finish in the team standings this afternoon on the Illinois State Cross Country at the D.A. Weibring Golf Club. Iowa captured the men's title with 44 points, while Northern Illinois collected 39 points to take home the women's crown.

For the second time in as many events, Brown paced the attack for Loyola's men's side. The Macon, Ill. product posted a time of 25:39.23 in the men's 8K race to earn a 10th-place finish. As was the case at the season-opening Flames/Flyers Challenge, redshirt junior Alex Baker was the second Rambler to cross the finish line, taking 27th with a time of 26:05.62. Rounding out the scoring for the Maroon & Gold was senior Chandler Diffee (37th; 26:23.31), junior Peter Schaible (44th; 26:34.20) and freshman Riley DeMeulenaere (45th; 26:34.50).

"We had some good performances from our guys at the Illinois State Invite," Loyola head cross country coach Bob Thurnhoffer said. "Collectively, we're working our way towards where we think we can be. Individually, Jake Brown continues his strong senior campaign with a 10th-place finish and Alex Baker is getting stronger every week. We saw some of our younger guys in Riley (DeMeulenaere), Derek (Rink) and Connor (McCue) show some promise too."

Maurais, fresh off of a third-place finish last weekend at the Flames/Flyers Challenge, continued to impress this afternoon in the women's 5K race. The Hopedale, Mass. native was the first Rambler to cross the finish line as she clocked in at 18:31.45 to claim 25th place. The duo of sophomore Julia Demko and junior Cassie Bloch weren't far behind the freshman. Demko posted a time of 18:40.24 to take 30th, while Bloch came in just under a second later (18:41.13) in 31st. Also contributing to the team score for the women's side was freshman Laura Bestul (42nd; 19:04.53) and sophomore Erin Falsey (51st; 19:21.51), with Falsey posting a new personal best 5K mark.

"It was great to see Rita Maurais, a freshman, step up to lead our women's team," Loyola assistant cross country coach Maraya Slatter commented. "Laura Bestul also placed third, while Erin Falsey turned in a new personal best."

Loyola is back in action next Friday, Sept. 16, when it makes its first of two trips to Notre Dame, Ind. this season for the National Catholic Championships.