Improved times were the order of the day for the Monmouth College men's and women's cross country teams at Friday's Bradley Pink Classic at Newman Golf Course in Peoria. All but one Scot lowered their time in the final race before the Midwest Conference Championships.

      Junior Joanna Podosek again led Monmouth's women on the 6K course. Her 23:14.1 placed her eighth in the field of nearly 200 runners. Sophomore Caitlyn Allen picked up her pace, placing 20th in 23:43.1. Jessica Salinas bettered her time with a 24:22.30 to finish 36th while Kate Saulcy toured the course in 24:41.9. Monmouth's women completed their top seven with Kelci Foss (24:59.8), Amy Wollenburg (25:12.6), Katelynn Propes (26:32.3) and Natalia Bobek (26:58.7).

      It was the usual top two for the Scots' men when Cooper Pauley placed 10th out of nearly 200 runners in 26:39.1 and Tate Heiple crossed the finish line 33nd with a 27:14.1. Bryent Van De Wostine was just seconds behind Heiple in 44th place after running a 27:23.6. The Scots rounded out their top seven with a pair of two-man packs. Jay Gray and Tyler Bland crossed the finish line in 28:39.3 and 28:46.6, respectively. Just five seconds separated Tanner Heiple (29:14.1) and Dustin Watts (29:19.1).

      The Scots will now prepare for the league championships at Beloit to be held on Oct. 29.