(From left) Jacob Warner, Benjamin VandenBrink, Lily Wagemann and Kayley Heeter all finished in the top 20 in their respective races in the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic. (Photos by Jay Shelp)

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country
University of Missouri–St. Louis junior Benjamin VandenBrink raced to a second-place finish in the college men’s 8-kilometer blue race at the Live in the Lou Cross Country Classic on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky. VandenBrink crossed the finish line in a time of 24 minutes, 24.4 seconds, which was 3.2 seconds behind Manchester’s Enrique Salazar. Jacob Warner also cracked the top 15 for the Tritons men’s team, which placed 15th overall with 475 points in a race featuring runners from 49 schools. Warner clocked a time of 25:04.7 to finish 15th. The women finished 14th and had 494 points in the women’s silver race. Kayley Heeter and Lily Wagemann finished the 5-kilometer race in 14th and 20th place, respectively, with Heeter finishing in 19:21.1 and Wagemann posting a time of 19:28.7. Bella Massaro also finished in the top 60 with a time of 20:11.4. UMSL will serve as the host for Saturday’s Brian T. Simpson Invitational at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri.

Volleyball
The fourth-ranked Tritons extended their season-opening winning streak to 15 matches with a 25-18, 25-20, 25-16 sweep of McKendree on Saturday at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Delaney Humm led a balanced UMSL attack with 11 kills, Hailey Flowers added 10, and Mya Elliott and Hannah Copeland had eight each. Kylie Adams had a team-high 21 digs, and Caitlin Bishop recorded 36 assists. The Tritons will continue their Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule this week with road matches at Indianapolis on Friday and No. 19 Lewis on Saturday.

Women’s Soccer
UMSL scored twice in the first five minutes of Friday’s match against visiting Indianapolis and rolled to a 4-0 victory before battling Lewis to a 1-1 draw on Sunday at the Don Dallas Soccer Field. Jada Holloman, Kayley Judy, Taylor Martin and Josie Maddox each scored against the Greyhounds on Friday evening, and Emily Bloomfield delivered the Tritons’ lone goal against the Flyers with a penalty kick in the 14th minute. UMSL couldn’t hold the lead as Lewis pulled even on Elisa Aguilar’s goal in the 63rd minute. Goalkeeper Grace Hastert made four saves combined in the two matches. The Tritons (4-2-3, 3-1-1 GLVC) will visit Missouri S&T on Friday and Maryville on Sunday.

Men’s Soccer
The Tritons dropped a pair of 1-0 decisions against No. 8 Indianapolis and Lewis last week at the Don Dallas Soccer Field. UMSL stayed even with the Greyhounds until the 80th minute, when Niklas Thanhofer scored off a pass from Michael Tselios on Friday. Joram Bogers scored Lewis’ lone goal in the 54th minute on Sunday. Goalkeeper Austin Reis made nine saves against Indianapolis and four more against Lewis, but the Tritons couldn’t generate any offense. UMSL (2-3-2, 1-3-1) will hit the road to play Missouri S&T on Friday and No. 11 Maryville on Sunday.

Men’s Golf
UMSL finished 11th out 16 teams in the University of Indianapolis Fall Invitational played last Monday and Tuesday at Broadmoor Country Club in Indianapolis. The Tritons finished with a combined score of 888 after struggling to a round of 302 on the final day. Dani Solavera was UMSL’s top finisher, posting a combined score of 219 to tie for 28th, and Rob Hogan wound up in a tie for 35th with a total of 221. Wayne State’s Mat Hawryluk was the individual medalist with a score of 207, and Grand Valley State won the team championship with a score of 845. UMSL will next host the Midwest Regional Oct. 9-10 at The Country Club of St. Albans in St. Albans, Missouri.

Men’s and Women’s Swimming
The Tritons’ swimming teams opened their 2023-24 seasons by winning nine events in dual meets against Division I Saint Louis University on Saturday afternoon at the Simon Rec Center. The men lost their dual 131.5-86.5 while the women fell 145-73. But the men’s team claimed five first-place finishes – two each by Guillem Masjuan Roca and Conley Savage. Masjuan Roca picked up his first event win in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1 minute, 43.28 seconds, and he also won the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 52.07. Savage won the 400-yard individual medley and the 100-yard fly. Hendrik Bechtel picked up the other event win, taking first in the 1,000 free with a time of 9:48.88. The women, meanwhile, secured its first event win in the 200-yard medley relay when Ella Lantz, Zara Konstapel, Audrey Lantz and Ava Boehning combined for a time of 1:46.95. Justice Beard won the 1,000 free in a time of 10:25.71 and the 500 free with a time of 5:07.29, and Konstapel took first in the 100 breast by more than two seconds with a time of 1:06.60. UMSL will next race on Oct. 13 against Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.