The Forester cross country teams competed in Wheaton College's Gil Dodds Invitational on Saturday, placing 11th in the men's team standings and 12th in the women's.

The men's race was first and Lake Forest was led by sophomore Owen Lashenik, whose 8-kilometer time of 27:01.9 was his best as a Forester and good for 36th in the field of 251 runners. Fellow sophomore Demos Manoukis and junior Austin Hewes also turned in career-best times, finishing 97th in 28:36.5 and 102nd in 28:44.7, respectively. At 29:49.2, freshman Oliver Gumerson broke 30 minutes in his first collegiate 8K race and junior Ali Faiz rounded out the team's top five in 30:09.4.

The University of Chicago had seven of the top eight runners and finished first in the men's team standings with 20 points. The Foresters were just outside the top half, placing 11th out of 20 teams with 347 points.

Lake Forest's top runner in the women's 6K race was junior Sophie Graham, who was 42nd out of 222 competitors in 24:04.4. Classmate Lettia Hoda placed 54th with a time of 24:28.2 and sophomore Liya N'Diaye was next on the squad in 26:26.2. Senior Jacquelyn Han (27:53.7) and sophomore Stella Abernathy (28:30.0) also contributed to the team score.

Chicago also won the women's race with just 17 points. Lake Forest's 364 points were good for 12th place in the 18-team field.

The Foresters will continue competing every other Saturday when they participate in Wisconsin Lutheran College's Warrior Invitational in West Allis, Wisconsin, on October 4.