The Valparaiso University men's cross country team finished sixth at Mid-Continent Conference Cross Country Championships held on a cool, sunny Saturday morning in Indianapolis, Ind.

Oakland was the conference champion with 34 points, followed by runner-up Southern Utah's 42 points. UMKC was third (90 pts.) and Western Illinois fourth (110), followed by IUPUI (123), the Crusaders (145), Chicago State (176), and Oral Roberts (194).

Valpo was led by Matt Blume (Logansport, Ind./Pioneer H.S.) who finished 17th overall with a time of 26:13. Adam Piaskowy (Crete, Ill./Crete Monee H.S.) was second across the finish line for the Brown and Gold in 26:30 with Doug Brown (Lima, Ohio/Allen East H.S.) (26:43) two places behind Piaskowy. Dennis Kabara (Chuka, Kenya/Mero H.S.) placed 36th overall for Valpo (27:06), while Mark Landmeier (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles H.S.) rounded out the Crusaders scorers in 47th place with a time of 27:34.

Jon Schiemann (Hemlock, Mich./Valley Lutheran H.S.) (27:50/52nd), Jeff Kondraschow (Darien, Ill./Hinsdale South H.S.) (28:12/54th), Chad Lincoln (Machesney, Ill./Harlem H.S.) (28:20/55th), and David Wheeler (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles East H.S.) (29:52/62nd) rounded out the Valpo line-up.

The Crusaders will return to action in two weeks when the Brown and Gold travel to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional on Nov. 16 in West Lafayette, Ind.