UPLAND, Ind. – The Grace College men’s and women’s cross country teams wrapped up the 2014 season at the Crossroads League Championships on Saturday.

The Lancers were battling a series of injuries and illnesses entering the meet and finished ninth in the men’s race and eighth in the women’s side.

Nathan Lane highlighted Grace’s day, narrowly missing All-League status with a 21st-place finish of 27:06. The men’s normal No. 2 runner Tyler Houvener was unable to finish the race due to injury, so Brandon Smith was next in line for the Lancers at 27:57.

Rounding out the top-five finishers for Grace were Austin Yoder, Collin Chupp and Hunter Reed as each runner earned a sub-29:30 time.

Katelyn McCullough grabbed a top-30 finish for the Lady Lancers, crossing the finish line in 19:56, and Alexis Nelson was next in 20:40.

Freshman Emma Mitchell finished third for Grace in 21:16, and Aletheia Burritt, Sarah Hoff and Alicia Hertzler ended the race within a four-second span.

“Many of our athletes were close to where we wanted, but we just weren’t able to overcome some late-season injuries and illness. I can’t fault anyone’s effort; things just didn’t come together like we had hoped,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond.

“Nathan Lane ran well despite missing some time with an injury. He was only a few places out of an All-Conference position and was the third freshman in the race. Katelyn [McCullough] put herself in the right position in an extremely deep field of runner. Alexis Nelson ran one her best races of the year. I thought Aletheia Burritt and Alicia Hertzler also ran well.”