Thirteen days after Jenson Starr broke William Woods University's men's 8k record, the Owls aim for more history, going for their second straight American Midwest Conference team title for the first time in 16 years when they compete in the AMC Championships, hosted by Hannibal-LaGrange University at 10:30 a.m. Friday in Hannibal.

Running in the 8k race for WWU are Blaine Brodersen (PR: 26:41.6), Kyle Hagemeyer (PR: 26:45.6), Chais Paul (PR: 31:27.3), Dustin Russell (PR: 26:49.7), Hayven Samuels (PR: 28:13.2), Ian Schwierjohn (PR: 26:13.5), Starr (PR: 24:50.9), Chase Tennyson (PR: 30:55.3), Mason Voegeli (PR: 29:43.4), Ethan Wilson (PR: 29:22.7), Justus Yates (PR: 27:58.2) and Freddy Zheng (PR: 29:32.2).

Friday's race will be the Owls' final AMC Championships before moving to the Heart of America Athletic Conference next school year. The Owls have won four team titles in their first 18 AMC Championships, with coach Dan Schwab guiding WWU to half those first-place finishes (outright winner in 2023 and co-winner in 2019). Schwab could add more to his impressive resume with the program by becoming the first WWU coach to win two successive team championships. When the Owls achieved that feat 16 seasons ago, Jamie Moreno won the first - Woods' first-ever team championship - in 2007, and Brayce Forsha won the second of the two in '08.

William Woods will need a strong showing from its star runner, Starr, to get the team title. Starr has won two of the six AMC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week awards this year and placed fifth at the AMC Championships a season ago. On top of that, Starr has recorded the Owls' best finish in all four of their meets: 15th at Saint Mary Sunset Showdown Aug. 30, 18th at Larry Young Invitational Sep. 20, fifth at Brian T. Simpson Invite with a then-PR of 25:10.7 and 12th at Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic with a school record 24:50.9.

Another top runner for the Owls is reigning AMC Freshman of the Year/All-AMC honoree Blaine Brodersen, who took sixth in the AMC Championships last year. Like Starr, Brodersen ran the best race of his career at the meet before the AMC Championships, clocking in at 26:41.9 in the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic. Brodersen's PR was 23.1 seconds quicker than his second-fastest time this year.

Rounding out WWU's three All-AMC competitors is Ian Schwierjohn, who finished seventh in the AMC Championships a year ago and posted his fastest time in the Owls' most recent competition, 26:13.5. That was 36.3 seconds better than his second-best time this season.

Columbia College, the host of the NAIA National Championships, which receives automatic qualification as host, will be the team for WWU to beat. Its top three runners are Starr's on-paper contenders for the individual AMC title. Last season, the Owls and Cougars had four place in the top 10, though WWU won the team title by 11 points.

Sophomore Kalieb Redda holds Columbia's fastest PR out of its 16 competitors, posting a 24:58.4 in the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic on Oct. 26. In 2023, the Leeuwarden, Netherlands native won AMC Newcomer of the Year and was named All-AMC. 

Will Cherrington, the runner-up at last season's AMC Championships, is one of CC's top runners. He was named AMC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week for Week 4 (Sep. 23), and Cherrington's PR is 25:12.2, set at the Blazing Tiger NAIA Classic on Oct. 26.

Oscar Curry is another Cougar who made All-AMC last season, finishing ninth in the AMC Championships. He earned AMC Men's Cross Country Runner of the Week in Week 1 (Sep. 2), and Curry set his PR of 25:43.7 at the Brian T. Simpson Invite on Oct. 12.

If you can't make it to the AMC Championships, go to the live results page here to see how Wililam Woods does in real-time.