Sophomore Donnie Gardner placed 14th to lead Baker University at the NAIA Region V cross country meet Saturday at the Baldwin City Golf Course.

Gardner finished the 8-kilometer course in 27:00.68 to help the Wildcats place ninth. It was not known after the race if he had qualified for the NAIA national championship race Nov. 18 in Louisville, Ky.

Lindenwood claimed the team title with 55 points to nip runner-up MidAmerica Nazarene by one point.

MidAmerica Nazarene sophomore Noah Too cruised to the individual title, winning in 24:23.45, which was 78 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Ivaylo Ignatov, of Lindenwood.

Other Baker results were Scott Chaney (35th, 28:43.58), Alex Dingman (60th, 29:38.29), Zac Towns (69th, 30:18.88), Kyle Paul (73rd, 30:31.74), Andrew McGregor (75th, 30:34.30), Jeremiah Harp (87th, 31:48.26) and Kyle Lauridsen (99th, 38:10.83).

In the women’s 5-kilometer race, Asher Kyger and Valentine Chebogut placed 1-2 to lead MidAmerica Nazarene to the team title. Kyger’s winning time was 18:36.58.

Sophomore Amber Keith was Baker’s top performer, placing 39th in 22:04.92. Other Baker results were  Katie James (52nd, 23:00.04), Shawnee Barron (59th, 23:27.15), Ariel Penner (63rd, 23:32.96),  Jessica Uhler (69th, 23:53.26) and Katey Wegemer (71st, 24:14.98).

The Lindenwood men and MidAmerica Nazarene women automatically qualify for the national championship.

Full results

Donnie Gardner placed 11th to lead Baker University’s runners Friday at the Heart of America Athletic Conference men’s cross country meet.

Gardner finished the 8-kilometer race in 28 minutes and 21.92 seconds to pace the Wildcats, who finished seventh with 171 points. MidAmerica Nazarene, which had four runners finish in the top 10, won the HAAC title with 34 points.

Other Baker results were Alex Dingman (29th, 29:53.68), Zac Towns (39th, 30:38.48), Scott Chaney (47th, 31:06.23), Andrew McGregor (48th, 32:02.12), Kyle Paul (57th, 32:21.83) and Jeremiah Harp (69th, 33:54.20).

In the women’s 5-kilometer race, Baker’s Amber Keith finished 24th in 22:04.97 to lead the Wildcats. Other Baker results were Shawnee Barron (48th, 24:35.47), Jessica Uhler (49th, 24:37.0), Ariel Penner (53rd, 24:54.84) and Katie James (54th, 24:58.43).

MidAmerica Nazarene won the women’s title with 37 points.

Next for the Baker cross country teams is the NAIA Region V meet Nov. 4 at Baldwin City Municipal Golf Course.

Full results

Donnie Gardner placed 117th out of 300 runners to pace Baker University's men's cross country team Saturday at the Woody Greeno/Nebraska Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. Gardner finished the 8-kilometer course in 29:01.65.

Times for Baker's other runners were Scott Chaney (29:44.50), Alex Dingman (29:53.20), Andrew McGregor (30:48.30), Zac Towns (33:24.65), Kyle Paul (33:25.10) and Jeremiah Harp (33:44.35).

Next for the Baker runners is the ESU Jock's Nitch Invitational Sept. 29 in Emporia.

Baker runner, Donnie Gardner became the fifth fastest Wildcat to run an 8k race this past weekend at the Friends Cross Country Invitational. Gardner, placed third overall with a time 27:03.19, narrowly beating out the fourth place runner.

Gardner has finished first for the Wildcats in both meets this season. Another newcomer Scott Chaney again finished second for the Wildcats, this time in 20th place with a time of 28:11.56. The two top twenty finishes lead Baker to a fourth place overall finish, two points behind third place Allen County Community College.

Men's Friends Cross Country Invitational Results

Donnie Gardner and Scott Chaney finished first and second respectively for the Wildcats at the Maple Leaf Invitational. Gardner placed 21st with a time of 17:02.70, while Chaney placed 36th 17:28.53.

Sophomore Alex Dingman, who placed first for the Wildcats last year, placed 47th despite improving his time from last year's race by ten seconds. Andrew McGregor and Zac Towns wrapped up the team for Baker.

Baker finished seventh overall as a team with 179 points. Noah Too, senior from MidAmerica Nazarene University, placed first overall with a time of 15:20.44 in the 5k race. MidAmerica won the race overall with three top ten finishes.

The men will run on Friday in the Friends Invitational.

Men's Maple Leaf Invitational Results

Expect the 2006 Baker University cross country team to be led by the same group of young runners from last season.

Both teams return their two top runners, which should help the Wildcats in their quest to returning to the top of the conference.

The women’s team returns their top runner, Amber Keith. She placed 26th at the Heart of America Athletic Conference meet with a 21:29 time.

Sophomore Zac Towns is expected to lead the men’s team. The Baldwin City sophomore battled through a leg injury last fall.

“The best returning runner will be Zac,” head cross country coach Rob Mallinder said. “Last year he was plagued by injury all season.”

Sophomore Alex Dingman led the Wildcats most of last season. He was Baker’s top runner in five of seven races and ran the ninth fastest 10k in the school’s history.

“I was surprised with his freshman consistency,” Mallinder said. “He ran a lot faster than most freshmen run out of high school.”

The men’s team also returns top runner Andrew McGregor. McGregor, a junior from Overland Park, led the Wildcats twice last season, including his 34th place finish in the HAAC championship.

Newcomer  Donny Gardner and Scott Cheney will round of the team of five for the men.

“They have the potential to be one of the best teams at Baker,” Mallinder said. “We don’t have any superstars, but we have HAAC quality athletes. We should be around mid-conference.”

The women are still looking for a fifth runner to field a team.

Mallinder believes Keith and Katie James should pace the Wildcats.

“I feel they are going to run low 20s and both will have very good season,” Mallinder said.