ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The Northwest Missouri State men's cross country team didn't win an individual meet last season and it's been much longer than that since they'd won a match away from their home course.
The Bearcats have now run two meets with their full-strength lineup and have collected two team titles with the University of Minnesota's Roy Grain Invitational and Missouri Western's Griffon Invitational. Saturday's Griffon Invitational is believed to be the lowest team score in team history according to the Bearcat Athletic Department.
"It is the culmination of hard work throughout the year," Northwest coach Wick Cunningham said. "Good mindset, good healthy habits outside of practice and just coming in here and working together as a team -- that really separates us."
This year's group is led by the three fastest runners in Bearcat history with Drew Atkins, Nate Mueller and Grant Bradley owning the top-3 spots on the all-time leaderboard.
"We all know that we are as good as each other," Bradley said. "On any given day, any of us can go out there and have a good last half of the race."
Bradley won the race with a 23:54.32 8,000 meters. A transfer this year from Fort Hays State has cut into his time significantly this year with last season's best being a 24:45.9.
"I think it has gone as well as expected," Bradley said of joining the team. "We've got really solid guys, and to be able to run with them every day and to be able to race with them, we are just going to be exceeding any goals that I had set coming in here. It is exciting."
The pace was set early with Atkins and Mueller taking off fast with Bradley and Central Missouri's Cosmas Kiprop behind them. Bradley took command late and finished four seconds ahead of Kiprop.
"Honestly, it was perfect," Bradley said. "Everything panned out. We had some last-minute change ups for the team. A lot of the team was battling sickness this week and I think the goal was just to come in and get and win, and walk away healthy. I think that is exactly what we did."
Mueller was three seconds behind Kiprop to take third with Atkins cruising across comfortably in fourth place.
The top Bearcat finishes continued with Brandon Mundorf giving Northwest four of the top six runners.
Tyler Blay finished 11th for the Bearcats with a 24:56.27 -- representing a personal best for him. Blay's mark capped the 25-point team score for the Bearcats with Nebraska-Kearney taking second with 63 and being closer to fifth-place Missouri Southern than Northwest.
"I've been sick for a week and a half now -- I think the whole team had been under the sickness bug," Blay said. "I'm happy with it. Can't be down on a PR, but I'm looking for more definitely."
The depth for the Bearcats was on display with four more runners in the top 25 as Riley Witt was 17th, Grayson Tapp was 21st, Sam Shipp was 24th and Barnabe Gabillet was 25th.
"We've got more depth than we've ever had before and that is super exciting," Cunningham said. "They just feed off each other."
Saturday's meet was a bit of a preview for the MIAA Championships which will be run on the same course on October 26. Northwest took third at last season's championships behind Pittsburg State and Washburn -- neither of which brought a full team to Saturday's meet.
"I think we scored 25 points as a team, which is crazy, but we have to repeat it here in a few weeks when it actually matters," Blay said.
In the women's 5,000-meter race, Northwest finished third as a team behind Nebraska-Kearney and Rogers State.
Alyna Thibault was sixth in the race with a 18:33.96 while Lydia McGlocklin was 12th, Mayson Hartley was 16th and Bree Mauro was 17th. Olivia Baker (24th) and Reagan McGuire (25th) rounded out the top-25 finishers.
"They feed off each other, they work together and I love seeing that," Cunningham said.
The Bearcats weren't the only runners with Nodaway County ties on Saturday as Platte Valley product Andrea Riley ran for Truman State and finished 66th with a 21:34.68.