JAMESTOWN, N.D. – Chris Jessop made use of a warm day and a fast course to cruise to victory at the Jimmie Invitational, finishing just ahead of University of Mary teammate Kevin Carpenter, and the Marauders finished a scant two points out of first.
 
Jessop, who has paced the Marauders in all three races this season, posted a time of 25:25 over the 8K Parkhurst Recreation Area course. This is the first individual meet win of the season for the Corvallis, Mont., native.
 
Carpenter also had an impressive meet for U-Mary. The sophomore from Colville, Wash., was nestled right in between Jessop and the third place finisher. Carpenter was clocked in 25:40, just 15 seconds behind Jessop and 16 seconds ahead of MSU Moorhead's Brady Speicher.
 
Two other Marauders placed in the top eight overall. Steven Gordon, a junior from Pierre, S.D., churned out a time of 26:08 to claim sixth. Snaring eighth for U-Mary was senior Thomas Neale. The Billings, Mont., native ran a time of 26:24.
 
Rounding out the Marauders efforts was sophomore Tyler Erickson and freshman Teegan Olson, as the pair went 21-22. Erickson ran the course in 27:41 and Olson checked in at 27:55.
 
As a team, the Marauders finished with 34 points, just two behind meet champion MSU Moorhead. Dickinson State University was a distant third in the eight team meet with 63 points. Fellow Northern Sun schools Northern State and Minot State finished fourth and sixth, respectively.
 
This is the final tuneup for the Marauders before the Northern Sun championships on Oct. 24.  
 
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