Senior Jonathan Stern was the individual champion and helped lead the Lake Forest College men's cross country team to a convincing first-place finish at the Forester Invitational on Friday. The Lake Forest women placed third at the meet.
The women's 6-kilometer race was first at Foss Park Golf Course in North Chicago, Illinois. Leading the home team and placing seventh out of 54 runners overall was freshman Yaneli Guajardo, who completed her first career 6K in 24:45.2. Sophomore Lauren Giurini was second on the squad and 12th overall in 25:51.5 and the next three Foresters were 15th, 16th, and 17th. Sophomore Briana Campbell led the trio with a time of 26:03 and was followed by junior Emily Staufer at 26:11.5 and sophomore Ariane Balaram at 26:13.5.
Trinity Christian College finished first in the women's team standings with 28 points, followed by Harper College with 54 and the Foresters with 60. North Park University rounded out the field with 109.
Stern's 8-kilometer time of 26:44.4 was 20 seconds ahead of the runner-up from Harper College. Forester junior Jorge Villanueva was third overall with a time of 27:12.5 and senior Mansur Soeleman fifth in 27:27.1. Sophomore Philip Wilson placed ninth in the 57-runner field with a time of 27:53.4 and junior Christian Aldana gave the home team five of the first 11 finishers when he finished in 27:57.6.
The Foresters' 29 points were 23 fewer than second-place Harper College and Trinity Christian College was third with 60. Robert Morris University finished with 102 points and North Park University with 133.
It was the 14th Forester Invitational but the first since 2011. It was also the first time the event was held at Foss Park Golf Course.
Lake Forest will compete on a Friday again next week when the team run at Augustana College's Brissman-Lundeen Invitational in Rock Island, Illinois. The meet will be held at Saukie Golf Course and will begin at 3:00 p.m.
