The No. 6 ranked men's cross country team continued its outstanding season by winning the 22nd Vanguard Invitational on Saturday morning. TMC had three runners finish in the top five as its overall time of 2:09:14 (over 8K) was nearly three minutes faster than the second place team, former GSAC member Cal Baptist.

Junior Anthony Pizzo was the Mustang's top runner for the first time this season, completing the course in 24:55, a pace of 5:01. He finished second in the individual standings, four seconds ahead of teammate and prior NAIA National Runner of the Week, John Gilbertson.

Senior Josiah Downer finished fifth individually. The Palmdale native's time was 25:50, while freshman John Hurd had the best performance of his young career with a top 20 finish (16th.)

Based on their performance, Coach Zach Schroeder's team could potentially move into the NAIA top five and continued to show they are legitimate contenders for a national championship.

TMC Individual Times: (8K)

2nd Anthony Pizzo               24:55

3rd John Gilbertson             24:59

5th Josiah Downer               25:50

16th John Hurd                      26:38

22nd Paul Jesson                  26:52

38th Matthew Crichton           27:29

44th David Eller                     27:41

62nd Camden McAllister        28:09

78th Tyler Tockstein              28:51