ANKENY - Freshman Jon McCall paced the Southwestern men's cross country team here Saturday at the Grand View Invitational held on DMACC's campus.

The 25th-ranked Spartans were shorthanded Saturday, racing without their top two runners Josh Baudler and York Miles, and without sophomore Levi Detrick. McCall rose to the occasion and ran a new PR for 8K in 28:39.2, cutting 15 seconds off his previous best time from the previous week. McCall finished 34th in the field of 93 finishers.

"With both Josh and York sitting this one out to give some nagging injuries a chance to rest and heal, it gave our other runners an opportunity to step up and be the guy on Saturday," Southwestern Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Scott Vicker said. "I was proud of the way Jon stepped up. He battled for the whole 8K. He was dealing with quite a bit of congestion, but didn't let that turn into an excuse. Jon has the potential to cut quite a bit of time the next time we toe the line."

Sophomores Connor Koppa and Nicholas Mather finished second and third for the Spartans, crossing the line in 30:38.1 and 30:39.7, respectively, for 62nd and 63rd place. Conrad Schroeder finished 75th in 31:52.6. With only four finishers, the Spartans were unable to post a team score.

"We thought Saturday could be a good day for Connor, Nick, and Conrad to all run a new PR, but it just didn't work out for them," Vicker said. "These guys have been racing a lot here early in the season and it has taken a toll on them. They'll get a chance to reset this week without a meet. Our next time out, we should be ready to drop some time."

Southwestern returns to racing on Friday, Oct. 8, at NIACC's Trent Smith Invitational.