It was a busy weekend for many of the top names in Division II and III cross country, as several of the individual and team favorites for November got their first races of the season out of the way.

Here were the highlights from the DII/DIII scene:

North Central (Ill.) men go 1-2 against DI competition at Illinois State Invitational

The best team in DIII mixed it up with some DI competition on Friday at the Illinois State Invitational in Normal, Illinois, and North Central seniors Dhruvil Patel and Matthew Norvell led the Cardinals by sweeping the top two places in 24:57 and 25:09, respectively, in the 8K race. NCC, competing without senior All-American Zach Hird, took second as a team behind host Illinois State.

North Central hitting above their weight class to beat DI programs yesterday pic.twitter.com/SoQBAAldb9

— FloTrack (@FloTrack) September 15, 2018

Patel, the No. 1 men’s DIII individual in the FloXC rankings, continues to roll after a stellar track season in the spring. As the reigning NCAA 10,000m champ and top cross country returner in 2018, Patel looks to be the clear favorite so far for the national meet in November.

Grand Valley State duo dominates up front at Spartan Invite

North Central wasn’t the only non-DI team to go 1-2 against Division I competition on Friday. Grand Valley State debuted their top guns this weekend at the Spartan Invitational in East Lansing, Michigan, and Zach Panning, and Enael Woldemichael did not disappoint—the All-American pair ran stride-for-stride to finish in 24:45 and 24:46 for 8K.

@ZachPanning and @enaelruns go 1 and 2!#AnchorUp pic.twitter.com/nO0nnD66Of

— GVSU Track and Field (@GVSU_XC_TF) September 14, 2018

No other athlete broke 25 minutes as the No. 1 (Panning) and No. 4 (Woldemichael) DII FloXC individuals led No. 3 GVSU to a third-place finish (73 points) behind Michigan State (55) and Michigan (58).

No. 1 Grand Valley State women and No. 1 Sarah Berger debut at Spartan Invite

2017 NCAA DII cross country national runner-up Sarah Berger’s Grand Valley State career got off to a nice start as she finished fifth to lead the top-ranked Lakers to a second-place finish at the Spartan Invitational. She crossed the 6K finish line in 21:41, as MSU’s Erin McDonald won in 20:39.

Berger, the 2018 NCAA DII 1,500m champion, transferred to GVSU from Walsh University this season for her final year of eligibility. Led by her top-five finish, the Lakers put each of their scorers in the top 17 to tally 50 points. The No. 22-ranked DI squad, Michigan State, won with just 22 points.

No. 3 Western State women show off their Fab Four

The up-and-coming Western State women showed the potential of their All-American quartet on Saturday as they dominated their home Mountaineer/Cowboy Invite in Gunnison, Colorado. The Mountaineers won the meet with a perfect 15 points, but it was the hand-in-hand finish of their top four—Sophie Seward, Alicja Konieczek, Kennedy Rufener, and Aneta Konieczek—that shined brightest for the strong bunch.

An impressive showing on our home course!! A lot more to come from this crew. A big shoutout to everyone who came out to support today #bigredmachine #mountup #monstersinthemountains pic.twitter.com/5IUfPMz3iB

— Western Track/XC (@WesternTrack) September 16, 2018

The times—all four ran 18:28 for 5K—aren’t initially impressive until you consider that the race was held at 7,700 feet of elevation. Western has four multiple-time All-Americans this season in the four ladies mentioned above, and so far so good for a group that looks as talented as any in Division II this season.

No. 2 WashU men drop four-second spread at Gil Dodds Invite

There wasn’t much competition for DIII’s second-ranked Washington University (St. Louis) men on Saturday at the Wheaton Gil Dodds Invite in Warrenville, Illinois, and the Bears took advantage by scoring a measly 19 points to win going away against North Central’s “B” squad. 2017 NCAA DIII cross country seventh-place finisher Brad Hodkinson led the squad in his WashU debut, winning the 8K race in 25:21. 

The rest of the Bear scorers crossed just four seconds later:

The No.7-ranked @WASHU_XCTF men nearly finished w/ a perfect score as its top-5 finishers were less than 5 seconds apart at the Gil Dodds Invite.
?Bradley Hodkinson outkicked the opposition to earn 1st place in his 1st ever race as a Bear w/ a time of 25:21.7#d3xc #LetsGoWashU pic.twitter.com/qCOtFm7gGT

— WashU Bears (@WASHUBears) September 15, 2018

Hodkinson, a transfer from Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Washington, kicked late for the close 0.2-second win over Cornell College’s Mason Wicker.