COLUMBIA, S.C. - Zander Allen (Inman, S.C.) ran a 27:10.8 for a 17th place finish on Saturday morning to lead the Lander Men's Cross Country team to an eighth place team finish at the Akiah McMillian Invitational at the Par Tee Golf Club in Columbia.

The Blue and Gold continued their improvement on the season as the 17th place finish by Allen was the best finish by a Bearcat harrier this season, the eighth place team finish was the highest team finish by Lander this season, and the team average of 29:08 was the fastest so far this season.

Noah Chevalier was next across the line in 28:01.0 while Jonathan Nunez followed soon after in a time of 28:21.5.

The combo of Ethan Waites and Riley Bird were next across the line with Waites finishing in 30:52.3 and Bird finishing in 31:08.2.

Trey Sloan rounded out the scoring five with a time of 39:11.2 and Jonathan Campbell and Nathan Purvis rounded out the lineup with times of 42:32.2 and 42:59.7, respectivly.

The Bearcats return to the course this week for thier last regular season meet at the Royals XC Challenge at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, N.C. on Friday.