EAST LANSING, Mich. - Grace's cross country teams got a chance to run against elite competition on Friday.

The Lancers competed at Michigan State's Spartan Invitational, a preview meet for the Big Ten Conference. Grace raced side-by-side with NCAA teams like Ohio State, Michigan, Northwestern, Michigan State, Cincinnati, Indiana, Purdue and Rutgers.

For the men, Cole Johnston paced the team with a strong time of 26:05.0, finishing 114th overall.

A pair of underclassmen were next in line, including freshman Hunter Quadlin (26:36.0) and John Young (26:49.2).

Grace's next three runners finished in a four-second span. Luis Loera crossed the finish line in 26:57.4, and he was followed quickly by Aden McCarty (27:00.6) and Austin Wilson (27:01.6).

Carter Clear was seventh for the men (27:14.7), and Reid Sollars and Jace Bullins were just three seconds behind him.

"The men raced well today with a number of noticeable improvements from last week. It's still early, and we are not placing a lot of emphasis on this portion of the season. We tempo ran the early portion. Now we get a solid 2-3 week training block before we release the reins and adjust our strategy," said Grace head coach Brian Dewey.

On the women's side, Grace's top-three runners all run under 23 minutes. Esther Kleber paved the way with a 91st-place finish of 22:32.5. Cece Mitchell (22:57.7) and Tame Sigler (22:59.2) finished back-to-back.

Freshman Leah Emch finished fourth for Grace (23:27.2). Addison Grady (23:31.2), Morgan Welch (23:32.6) and Grace Pettit (23:38.2) crossed the finish line in a seven-second span.

Freshman Faith Spain also ran a sub-24 minute race (23:54.7).

"The women continue to race well despite it being early in the season. These ladies look like they will continue to progress this season, and they will likely be a well-ranked team nationally this fall," Dewey added.

The Lancers will next race at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, Mo., on Sept. 26.

MEN'S RESULTS

Johnston - 26:05.0

Quadlin - 26:36.0

Young - 26:49.2

Loera - 26:57.4

McCarty - 27:00.6

Wilson - 27:01.6

Clear - 27:14.7

Sollars - 27:17.5

Bullins - 27:17.9

Hoffert - 27:55.2

Askew - 28:09.2

McPhatter - 28:13.2

Pinkleton - 28:34.6

Sowles - 28:59.9

Urbina - 29:01.9

Harrold - 29:01.9

Dillman - 29:09.9

Quinones - 29:29.5

Fisher - 29:29.8

Nichols - 30:11.8

Olszewski - 30:17.9

Klein - 30:32.9

WOMEN'S RESULTS

Kleber - 22:32.5

Mitchell - 22:57.7

Sigler - 22:59.2

Emch - 23:27.2

Grady - 23:31.2

Welch - 23:32.6

Pettit - 23:38.2

Spain - 23:54.7

Geller - 24:06.3

Manning - 25:06.6

Scott - 25:21.3

Moon - 25:28.3

Johnson - 25:49.8

Spahr - 26:02.0

Long - 26:07.1