ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Jeffrey Kayfes (Buhl, Minn./Mountain Iron-Buhl HS) and Ashton Niemi (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji HS) have taken turns leading the Saints men's cross-country efforts this season. As Niemi nursed a strained calf and pulled from the race, Kayfes took his cue and led the Saints' efforts in the men's Blue 8K at the Interregional in Rock Island, Illinois, finishing 110th in a time of 27:41.1.

The Saints men competed in the Blue Division, consisting of a mix of ranked Gold Division teams' rosters beyond their top 10, and full teams of those not ranked in the polls.

Max Rogers (Moorhead, MN/Moorhead HS) finished second for the Saints in 176th place with a time of 28:18.2. Evan Bumgardner (Luverne, MN/Murray County Central HS) scored for the first time, running a huge personal best, dropping almost a minute over 8K to finish 196th in 28:32.3. Connor Feldt (Aurora, MN/Mesabi East HS) scored fourth for the Saints men in 222nd place with a time of 28:42.9. Nick Stoufis rounded out the Saints' scoring, finishing 254th in 29:23.4.

The Saints finished 21st of 32 teams. Second-ranked Wartburg's B team won the meet with 38 points, ahead of No. 1–ranked La Crosse's B team, which scored 92 points.

The Interregional continued the season's theme of uncommonly hot conditions, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s and high humidity.

Saints head coach Chad Salmela remained philosophical.

"It's always tough feeling like the weather disadvantages your team every single meet of the year so far, but that's just sport," said Salmela. "All we can do is our best, and we're doing that every day. We just have to keep working and hope that we get a chance to show our preparation is good. Which it is."

The Saints' next opportunity is the MIAC Championships in two weeks at Highland Park Golf Course in St. Paul, Nov. 1.