CRETE, Neb. - Vanessa Cortes of Mount Mercy captured the 5,000 meter-run at the Heart of America Conference indoor track meet Friday.

Cortes won the race in 18 minutes, 44.46 seconds on the opening day of  the two-day meet.

Rachel Gadient of Mount Mercy finished second in the women's  pentathlon. The Mustangs also placed second in the 4x800 relay in  9:48.17 with Kathryn Vander Poel, Mady Roth, McKenna Johnson and  Andrea Ertz sharing the baton.

The Mount Mercy women are in second place in the team standings after  three events, with the bulk of the meet scheduled for Saturday.

James Lindstrom of Mount Mercy took third place in the men's 5000  meter run Friday in 15 minutes, 39.83 seconds. The Mustangs are in  third place in the team standings after two events.

WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. MidAmerica Nazarene 35, 2. Mount Mercy 28, 3. Benedictine 24, 4.  Baker 14, 5. (tie) Central Methodist 4, Grand View 4, 7. (tie)  Missouri Valley 3, Graceland 3, 9. Clarke 2.

MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. Baker 21, 2. Grand View 14, 3. Mount Mercy 12, 4. (tie) Central  Methodist 8, Benedictine 8, MidAmerica Nazarene 8, 7. (tie) Graceland  3, Clarke 3, 9. William Penn 1.