Despite rain and lightning at the Iowa State Memorial Classic, both men’s and women’s cross country teams notched second place finishes this past weekend.

For the women, consistent sophomore Andrea Crapisi was the leader, finishing fifth in a time of 18:34.

Teammate Emily Martini followed, finishing 10th in a time of 18:56.

Head Coach Dick Lee believed this was Martini’s best race of the year.

“Emily Martini has struggled,” Lee said, “but is back and feels she can compete better.”

Junior Alienor Gilchrist, who is coming back from recent injury, placed 14th in a time of 19:11, while freshman Cara Van Eck finished 29th in a time of 19:40.

Other Cyclone finishers were Gayle Nugent (39th), Jennifer Crapisi (44th), Erin Bresnan (53rd), Rachel Johnson (55th) and Jana Peterson (79th).

Lee believes the team’s performance at the Memorial Classic serves as a confidence builder going into the Big 12 Championships, and he believes his team is improving every week.

In addition, he also pointed out that the Big 12 Championship should be interesting, due to the many teams that are performing well this year.

“A lot of teams are running well, Lee said, “but there isn’t one real dominant team.”

On the men’s side, junior Philemon Too finished third in a time of 25:35.

All-American David Lichoro was next, finishing fifth in a time of 25:48.

Teammate Samuel Magu finished 14th, clocking in at 26:18, while freshman John Sainna finished 16th with a time of 26:38.

Other finishers for the Cyclone men were Tait Steines (25th), Wade Demmer (28th), Jason Vogel (34th), Ryan Larson (39th), Michael Behr (42nd), Dan Reis (44th), Jake Overman (46th), Jeremy Meyer (49th) and Ryan Pence (56th).

The Cyclones will travel next to Lincoln, Neb., on October 31 to compete at the Big 12 Championships.