Battling the injury bug, the Wayne State College men and women’s cross country teams were few in number this weekend.

Both teams traveled to Yankton, S.D. to compete at the Mount Marty Cross Country Invitational Saturday.

Neither team fielded enough runners to have a team score, but that didn’t affect the ‘Cats that still competed.

Justin Brueggermann, who has been a standout for the WSC men all season, was sidelined due to an Achilles injury.

Nathan Boggess was out with a foot injury, and Joey Black also didn’t compete for the Wildcats due to sickness.

On the women’s side, the Sophomore sensation Kinsey Clark also didn’t compete due to Achilles troubles. Makael Lanum is still dealing with hip problems, and Jaden Wamstad is trying to recover from a lower back injury.

“With NSIC Championships coming up in two weeks, it is important we get them healthy and ready to go,” head coach Marlon Brink said.

Nick Fly had an phenomenal race, flying his way through the course and finishing 47th out of the field of nearly 200 with a time of 27:09.

“Coach Brink came up to us and told us that someone needs to take leadership in this race. Him saying that pumped me up,” Fly said.

Nick Schmit was the next finisher for the Cats, placing 81st.

Corbin Lehn weren’t far behind him, finishing 107th and 120th respectively.

Skyler Lippman stepped up for the WSC women’s team and was the first Wildcat to complete the 5,000 meter course. Lippman clocked in at 20:41, placing 77th overall.

“Having some girls not race did put some pressure on me to run my best for the team,” Lippman said.

Andrea DeSimone was the next finished for the ‘Cats, clocking in at 21:38. Molly Kingsley and Jordanna Trausch followed, with times of 22:02 and 23:46.

“I feel like the team is prepared for conference. We have been working on running together in practice, hopefully it will carry over to the meet,” Lippman said.

Wayne State will host the 2014 Northern Sun Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 8th at the Wayne Country Club.