Mason City, IA – The Indian Hills Community College men's cross country team continued what has been a historic season with a career day at the Trent Smith Invitational hosted by

Northern Iowa Area Community College on Friday evening.

The team was paced by freshmen Zach Schocker and Drake VanBaale. Both runners eclipsed the 28-minute mark for the 8,000-kilometer course for the first time in their careers,

running times of 27:54 and 27:56 respectively. Both athletes finished in the top-20 with Schocker finishing 16^th, and Vanbaale right behind in 17^th.

However, the freshmen duo of Schocker and VanBaale were not the only 1^st-year IHCC athletes coming away with big days. In fact, Conner Riley, Elijah Boesch, and Mason Tyler all had personal bests as well to lift the Warriors to a 5^th place finish. Times were as follows:

Zach Schocker (Fr.) – 27:54 (16^th)

Drake Vanbaale (Fr.) – 27:56 (17^th)

Conner Riley (Fr.) – 28:45 (32^nd)

Clayton Grainger (So.) – 29:07 (37^th)

Elijah Boesch (Fr.) – 29:36 (45^th)

Mason Tyler (Fr.) – 30:09 (51^st)

Marc Estrada (Fr.) – 30:55 (56^th)

Paden Lang (Fr.) – 31:06 (60^th)

Coach Ewing said after the race, "Our men really stepped up to the plate this weekend. With us sitting Marcus & Michael, I think it was a great opportunity for some of the freshmen to step up into a leadership role." Ewing continued to say, "Getting Zach and Drake under 28 was a big accomplishment. Conner is continuing to round into shape as the season progresses and Elijah Boesch had another big personal best as well. Overall, six men set personal bests over 8,000m. It's very exciting to see the entire men's pack continue to improve just in time for the regional meet."

The IHCC Cross Country teams will return to action on Friday, October 26^th at the Region XI Cross Country Championships in Bettendorf, Iowa, hosted by Scott Community College. Men are slated to start the race at 5 p.m. CST.