CLINTON, Miss. — The Spring Hill College men's and women's cross country teams combined for 11 personal bests Friday at the Watson Collegiate XC Classic, their final race before the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships.

The meet, held at Choctaw Trails, featured a field of more than 30 teams from across the country and provided the Badgers with one final test before the postseason.

The Spring Hill men finished 16th with 437 points in the 8K race, led by freshman Ian Brown, who placed 47th overall in a personal-best time of 26:37.1. Larrson Calhoun followed in 97th at 27:52.5, while Charles Blackwell finished 100th in 27:59.2.

Luke Burlison crossed the line in 29:14.0, followed by Erik Lindmark in 29:42.5. Teotl Heredia and Tripp Campbell rounded out the seven-runner lineup, finishing in 30:19.4 and 31:48.2, respectively. All seven Spring Hill men recorded personal-best times.

On the women's side, the Badgers placed 24th with 641 points in the 6K race. Evelyn Herrera led Spring Hill with a 38th-place finish in 24:04.3, setting a personal best in the process.

The Badgers' top four women all recorded personal-best times despite competing without their second runner, who is expected to return for the conference championships. Alexa Manuel, Kerrigan Klevanosky, Leia Mayeux, Mariam Cosky, Lydia Hamilton and Ferrin Westry also competed for Spring Hill.

"We had great weather for our last race before our conference meet," head coach Mike McVey said. "This was our toughest meet of the season by far."

McVey highlighted the progress of the men's top three, noting that it was the program's strongest top-three group in seven years. He also praised the women's performances and expressed optimism about having the full lineup available for the postseason.

"We have enough time to get where we want to be for our conference meet, but we don't have any extra time... every day counts," McVey said. "Each day ahead is huge."

Spring Hill will return to competition Friday, Nov. 6, at the SIAC Cross Country Championships at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course in Macon, Georgia.