Euan Makepeace raced to victory at the Commodore Classic in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday morning. It was the first action of the cross country season for the Butler standout.

Makepeace posted a time of 24:39.8 on the 8k Percy Warner Park course, separating himself from Middle Tennessee State's Jacob Choge (24:44.8) and Kigen Chemadi (24:50.2). Choge is a three-time All-American and just a sophomore this season. Makepeace followed up a fifth-place finish in last year's event.

"Euan cruised away from one of the best runners in the NCAA…and looked controlled doing it," said Butler coach Matt Roe. "He did his job for the team today and looked impressive."

Makepeace's performance catapulted Butler to a second-place finish in the 15-team field at the event hosted by Vanderbilt. The MTSU Blue Raiders narrowly edged Butler, 64-68, with Lipscomb coming in third (92). Middle Tennessee State is currently ranked No. 19 and finished 28^th at last year's NCAA Championships.

The Bulldogs also took spots 15 through 17 as freshman Barry Keane (25:27.7) joined teammates Evan Johnson (25:36.6) and Matt Lumbar ((25:37.6) in a pack that also included Bobby Johnson (25:40.2) in the 19^th spot.

"Our goal was to beat nationally-ranked MTSU and win the meet to help position ourselves for an NCAA national berth," said Roe. "Their fifth man opened the door for us but we just couldn't quite shut it."

Johnny Leverenz (25:47.4) and Jonathan Collier (26:06.4) finished 24^th and 39^th, respectively, in the 149-runner field.

On the women's side, sophomore Josephine Thestrup paced the Bulldogs with an 11^th-place finish in the event. She covered the 5k course in 17:52.2. Butler placed tenth as a team among the 17-team fields.

Thestrup placed seventh in the 2016 race.

Freshmen Angelina Ellis (18:36.7; 57^th) and Camille Hines (18:53.4, 68^th) joined Grace Butkus (19:28.8), Clare McCabe (19:39.5; 110^th), Allison Miller (19:53.4; 118^th), Kara Stark (20:26.9; 142^nd), and Aiden Smith (21:39.7; 165^th) in the Butler line-up Saturday.

"We are in a steep learning curve and today was an opportunity to compete and get better," said Roe of his women's team. "How we respond to each competition will define our season. I am confident we will improve each time out."

The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, Sept. 29, traveling to South Bend, Ind., for the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.