ATCHISON, Kan. - The Mount Mercy cross country teams turned in strong  performances at the Heart of America Conference meet Saturday.

The Mount Mercy women finished second in the team standings, with  Vanessa Cortes leading the way by placing fourth in the individual  results in the 5K championships.

The Mount Mercy men placed third in their team standings, with James  Lindstrom claiming the No. 3 spot in the individual results in the 8K  outing.

Twelve teams competed in both races.

MidAmerica Nazarene captured the women's team title with 48 points,  with Mount Mercy just 18 points behind with 66. All five of Mount  Mercy's runners finished in the top 20.

Melanie Cozzi of Benedictine was the women's champion in 19 minutes,  31.40 seconds. Cortes finished fourth in 19:55.86.

Benedictine took the men's title with 76 points in a tight race. Baker  placed second with 81 points and Mount Mercy was third with 94.

Ulysses Orozco of Missouri Valley won the men's race in 26 minutes,  34.42 seconds. Lindstrom finished third in 26:52.63.

WOMEN'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. MidAmerica Nazarene 48, 2. Mount Mercy 66, 3. Baker 77, 4.  Benedictine 88, 5. Clarke 158, 6. Central Methodist 168, 7. Grand View  201, 8. Missouri Valley 212, 9. Evangel 239, 10. Graceland 263, 11.  William Penn 268, 12. Peru State 337.

MOUNT MERCY WOMEN: 4. Vanessa Cortes 19:55.86, 12. Alexa Zamora  20:34.11, 15. Andrea Ertz 20:44.01, 17. McKenna Johnson 20:47.96, 18.  Emily Erickson 20:52.60.

MEN'S TEAM STANDINGS

1. Benedictine 76, 2. Baker 81, 3. Mount Mercy 94, 4. Evangel 115, 5.  MidAmerica Nazarene 137, 6. Central Methodist 146, 7. Missouri Valley  176, 8. Clarke 178, 9. Grand View 196, 10. Graceland 240, 11. William  Penn 323, 12. Culver-Stockton 389.

MOUNT MERCY MEN: 3. James Lindstrom 26:52.63, 11. Colton Forster  27:41.88, 17. Michael Marshall 28:10.39, 22. Aaron Golding 28:18.19,  43. Cameron Steffens 29:04.92.