The Cyclone cross country team couldn’t have started its season off in better fashion than it did last Friday at the Bulldog Classic in Des Moines.

Last year, junior Alex Whitesell finished just one second behind Drake’s Colin Hagan to finish sixth overall in the meet, failing to capture the perfect sweep of five Cyclone runners finishing in the top five.

“It was very disappointing and I brewed on it for a little bit,” Whitesell said. “But in any sport you have to handle disappointment by moving on and taking the next step forward.”

Whitesell did just that on Friday by finishing fourth overall in the meet with a time of 12:42, improving from last year’s performance.

Junior Daniel Murray and redshirt freshman Charlie Paul led the Cyclone men, both finishing the 4,000-meter race with a time of 12:27.

For the fourth straight year in a row, the Cyclone men boasted at least five runners finishing in the top 10.

“I think our team did a great job of going out and running together,” head coach Corey Ihmels said in a news release. “They competed really hard. It was great to see Dan Murray and Charlie Paul run well.”

On the women’s side, senior Erin Penticoff finished third overall in the meet with a time of 15:25.

Senior Kim Brown edged out fellow teammate, junior Kaylee Small, by eight seconds with a time of 16:15 to finish tenth overall.

Last year, Brown finished just one second behind Small to finish ninth overall at the meet.

The Cyclones will host the Iowa Intercollegiate on Sept. 19, at the ISU Cross Country Course, where they will look to continue their success and gain momentum as they progress through the season.