BELLEVILLE, Ill. - Webster University Men's Cross Country will begin its quest for a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship this Saturday as the Gorloks will compete in the 2019 SLIAC Cross Country Championships at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.
 
The 2019 SLIAC Cross Country Championships are set to be held on Saturday, Nov. 2 with the league's men's teams running an 8K race beginning at 9 a.m. CST, with the women's 6K race to follow at 9:45 a.m. EST.
 
At last year's SLIAC Championships, Webster finished as runner-up as the Gorloks put five runners in the Top 15 and scored a total of 57 points to record its best finish in the championship meet since also finishing as runner-up in 2014. Junior Nathan Freyling (Fenton, Mo./Fox) was the Gorloks top finisher last season as the SLIAC Championships as he ran an 8K time of 27:14.05 to finish fourth overall and earn First-Team All-SLIAC honors.
 
In addition to Freyling, Webster's other returning All-SLIAC honorees from last season are sophomores Eli Guzman (Parkville, Mo./Park Hill South) and Javier Cervantes (Garden City, Kan./Garden City), who placed 13th and 14th respectively at the SLIAC Championships to earn Second-Team All-SLIAC honors. Along with Guzman and Cervantes, senior Abram Donovan (St. Paul, Minn./Highland Park) earned Second-Team All-SLIAC honors in 2017 after placing 13th at the SLIAC Championships.
 
During the 2019 regular season, Webster ran in four events as they place in the Top 10 in three of those four events, including a third place finish at the season opening WIU Early Bird Invitational. Along that finish, the Gorloks were fourth at the H.W. Wright Classic hosted by Millikin University, eighth at the Les Duke Invitational hosted by Grinnell College and concluded the regular season by placing 21st out of 34 team at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
 
Saturday's SLIAC Championships will be the fourth 8K race this season for the Gorloks and three different Gorloks have run under 27-and-half minutes in an 8k race on the year, including Freyling running a season best 8K time of 26:45 at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational en route to earning SLIAC Runner of the Week honors. The team's top runner most of the season has been freshman Cameron Sakuma (O'Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West), who was WU's top finisher at their first three events and ran a personal best 8K time of 27:10.1 at the Kollege Town Sports Invitational. On the year, Sakuma had one Top 10 finish as he was 10th the H.W. Wright Classic and was named the SLIAC Runner of the Week on Sept. 3 after being the Gorloks top finisher at the WIU Early Bird Invitational.

Listed below is a preview of the 2019 SLIAC Men's Cross Country Championships as compiled by the SLIAC Office.

Greenville University will be in search of a 4th consecutive SLIAC Men's Cross Country title this weekend, already the second-longest streak in conference history. Greenville has won each of the last three championships and 15 overall. The most consecutive championships won is 11 by Greenville from 1996-2007. The Panthers are led by the 2018 SLIAC Champion, Dylan Goodyear. Goodyear is coming off an 8th place finish at the Bradley Classic, running an identical time as his championship time last year (25:55). He has been the Panthers top finisher in all four races this season and is looking to become the first Panther to repeat as SLIAC Champion since Josh Martsolf in 2004 & 2005. Noah Dir and Dylon Niswonger will look to be near the top of the finishers as well. 

After a second-place finish at last year's championship, Webster University will be pushing for their first title in program history. The Gorloks have a deep team with three runners putting up times under 27-minutes this season in the 8K distance. Freyling is the top Gorlok runner to watch having recorded a season-best time of 26:45 in his last outing. He finished 4th overall at last year's championship and is joined on the roster by Sakuma and two returning All-Conference runners in Guzman and Cervantes.

Spalding finished 3rd at last year's championship and will have familiar faces in Will Brittain and Dane Thomas leading the way. Brittain was 7th last year and has completed a pair of races this season at the championship distance, running the 27-minute range both times. Thomas finished 8th last year and has a team-best time of 27:02 this season, 27-seconds faster than his time at last year's championship meet.

Principia College's Abe Ott could push for the individual title. Ott, a senior, has been an All-Conference performer in each of the last two years and finished 2nd overall last season. He has led Principia in all five races this fall and recorded a top time of 27:03 at the Illinois College Invitational on October 12. Freshman Stevie Keyes and Boone Steele will look for strong showings in their first championship experience.

Iowa Wesleyan University will be looking to improve on their 5th place finish from last year. The Tigers have had four different runners lead them in races this fall. Freshman Nico Sheck is the only Tiger to repeat as a top finisher, accomplishing that feat in the last two races. Sheck posted a top time of 29:30 at the Brissman Lundeen Invitational while Xavier Moore has a team-best time of 29:13 this fall.

Blackburn College will be led by the duo of Unzell Pruitt and Quentin Smith. Pruitt has three top team finishes this fall, although he missed the team's last race. He has a top time of 34:18 at the 8K length while Smith most recently ran a 30:11 at the Illinois College Invitational, finishing 29th overall. 

MacMurray College is counting on their busy fall, with a SLIAC high six competitions, to have them prepared for this weekend's championship. The Highlanders are paced by Zach Vespa, who finished 34th at last year's conference meet. Vespa has cut off nearly a minute from his time at last year's race, running a 30:33 at the Illinois College Invitational. His teammate Ryan Shumaker will be there to push him on Saturday.

Fontbonne University will field a full team for the first time since 2015. Their lineup is led by freshman Domenick Blanchette. Blanchette has quickly asserted himself for the Griffins, finishing as the team's top runner in all five races this fall. He posted a season-best time of 29:54 at the St. Louis Classic on Oct. 19 and has lowered his time in three straight races.

Westminster College will be looking to sophomore Sam Moore to lead the Blue Jays. Moore placed 24th at last year's championship. He has a season-best time of 29:59 and has been the team's top runner in all five races this fall.