CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - A sweep of the top three places gave Southern Illinois the Missouri Valley Conference men's cross country championship Saturday, with sophomore Jeff Schirmer claiming the individual title to lead a dominant effort by the Salukis.

Schirmer led a tightly-packed group of Salukis at the front over the final three kilometers of the 8K race at Pheasant Ridge Golf Course, holding off teammate and defending Valley champion Mohamed Mohamed to score the crown in 24:31.47. That time was nearly five seconds below Schirmer's previous season-best effort.

Mohamed was second in 24:33.80, followed by SIU junior Kevin Doran, who was just behind in third with a time of 24:34.07.

The trio's strong finish, along with a 13th-place finish by sophomore Jason Ordway and a 16th-place showing by freshman Kyle Kirchner, easily gave the Salukis their 11th team title in school history. SIU tallied just 35 points to finish ahead of runner-up Illinois State (52 points) and third-place Indiana State (73).

The Redbirds' Scott Krapf was fourth overall with a time of 24:34 to finish ahead of UNI sophomore Dorian Ulrey, who was fifth in 24:43 to lead the Panthers. It was the second the second top-five finish in as many tries at the championship meet for Ulrey, who was runner-up to Mohamed as a freshman in 2006.

Illinois State's Jordan Anderson was sixth in 24:47 while another Redbird, Mike Richardson, was eighth in 24:52. The duo sandwiched the Sycamores' top entry, sophomore Scott Keeney, who was seventh in 24:50.

Creighton took fourth in the team race, led by senior John Krumsee's 10th-place finish, which came in a time of 24:53. Drake's Barry Hill was 11th in 24:57 to lead the Bulldogs, who finished fifth in the team standings.

Wichita State took sixth as a team, led by junior Scott Reed's 18th-place showing with a time of 25:21, while UNI took home seventh on the strength of Ulrey's top-five finish and career-best times by seniors Chris Lawson (23rd) and Mike Clancy (31st).

Bradley's Chris George led the way for the Braves with a 17th-place showing in 25:21, while Greg Pulscher, who led early in the race, was 20th to lead Evansville in 25:26.