FAYETTE, Mo. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy raced to victory in the  Heart of America Conference cross country meet Saturday and led the  Mustangs to the team championship.

Cortes covered the 5K course in 19 minutes, 25.4 seconds for a  convincing 18-second victory over Isabella Guerra of Benedictine.

Emily Erickson of Mount Mercy placed fifth, Andrea Ertz finished sixth  and Kelsi Huhndorf was eighth as the Mustangs had four runners finish  in the top-8. Jessica Ertz finished 29th for Mount Mercy to round out  the team scoring.

Mount Mercy finished with 49 points to edge Baker (54) and Benedictine  (56) for the title. The Mustangs earned an automatic berth to the NAIA  national meet Nov. 22 in Vancouver, Wash.

The Mount Mercy men's cross country team finished sixth out of 12  teams in their 8K race. Jacob Blackmon led the Mustangs in seventh  place.

WOMEN'S RESULTS
Team Standings

1. Mount Mercy 49, 2. Baker 54, 3. Benedictine 56, 4. MidAmerica  Nazarene 86, 5. Graceland 139, 6. Central Methodist 153, 7. Evangel  211, 8. Grand View 231, 9. Clarke 240, 10. William Penn 252, 11. Peru  State 307, 12. Missouri Valley 343, 13. Culver-Stockton 356.

Mount Mercy - 1. Vanessa Cortes 19:25.4, 5. Emily Erickson 19:54.8, 6.  Andrea Ertz 19:56.9, 8. Kelsi Huhndorf 19:58.7, 29. Jessica Ertz  21:31.7.

MEN'S RESULTS

1. Baker 47, 2. Evangel 68, 3. Missouri Valley 104, 4. Benedictine  120, 5. Grand View 141, 6. Mount Mercy 144, 7. Central Methodist 152,  8. Clarke 236, 9. Graceland 241, 10. MidAmerica Nazarene 242, 11.  William Penn 278, 12. Culver-Stockton 369.

Mount Mercy - 7. Jacob Blackmon 26:37.28, 15. Cameron Steffens  27:28.21, 31. Aaron Golding 28:16.27, 50. Sayed Opeyany 29:05.71, 51.  Chase Kress 29:11.12.