Western Kentucky’s cross country team returned to Nashville for the second time in as many outings to compete Saturday in the Commodore Classic hosted by Vanderbilt.

Both WKU squads ran their respective race distances for the first time this year as the women finished 20th in the 6k outing and the men took 15th in their 8k competition. 

Action from Percy Warner Park – Vaughn’s Creek Cross Country Course opened with the men’s 8K race. The Hilltoppers finished 15th across a stacked meet field that included eight Power Five squads.

Emerson Wells led the men’s squad with a time of 26 minutes 51.4 seconds (100th overall) in the second meet of the season while Dedrick Troxell was close behind in 27:08.0 (114th). Two of WKU’s top-five finishers were freshmen as Jacob Skillman (127th) and Will Perrone (135th) were scorers for the squad.

On the women’s side, WKU finished 20th in the team standings. The top-six team finishers were all Power Five squads with nine represented in the 20-team field.

Savannah Heckman led the Lady Toppers for the second-consecutive meet, clocking a 24:34.7 (159th). Morgan Kannapel crossed second for WKU in 25:34.6 (173rd). WKU would see a pair of freshmen finish in the top-five for the team with Jenna Vaughn (175th) and Carley Maskos (181st) crossing next.

WKU will be back in action in three weeks at the Great Louisville Classic on Oct. 5.