Logan Lucas smashed his own school record to qualify for the NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday morning at Seminole Valley Park in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Lucas, who placed fourth overall, becomes the first Wildcat runner, male or female, to qualify for the national championships since the sport was re-instated in 2008.

Lucas covered the 8000-meter course in a time of 25:01.6, speeding past his previous school record of 25:52.2 set three weeks earlier at Mikayla Sherrill Fall Classic in St.Louis. He finished 17 seconds behind the race winner, D'Artagnon Beaver of William Penn (Iowa).

Lucas' time helped the Wildcat team set a team record for time at the 8-kilometer distance. The Wildcats finished 10th among the 13 teams competing, finishing in a time of 2:23:45. That time tops the old mark of 2:25:36 set in 2008.

Lucas wasn't the only runner to set personal highs in times Saturday.

Jailan Reynaga set his personal best time by finishing with a mark of 29:06.6, good for 84th overall. Chase Lake also beat his previous best time at this distance with a time of 30:25.6, which put him in 99th place. Blake Thompson finished 115th overall but ran a personal best time of 33:33.4. In addition, Kenny Tucker, who finished 111th overall, ran a season-best 32:14.3.

Among the other runners competing for the Wildcats, Gannon McNamee finished 89th overall in a time of 29:30.1, while Kile Dowd placed 93rd overall with a time of 29:42.7.

The 69th Annual NAIA Men's Cross Country National Championships is scheduled to be run Friday, Nov. 22, at Gan Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Mo. The men's race is slated to start at 10:30 a.m.