LAKELAND, Fla. – The Fire men's and women's cross country teams opened the season this morning in the 2024 Fire Invitational, with the women winning their meet and the men finishing second.
On the women's side, the Fire did what good teams do, bunching its five scoring runners within the top eight finishers for the win by a single point.
After Ave Maria's top pair claimed the top two spots, SEU's bunch followed. Grace Feder was the first of three-straight SEU teammates, as she finished in third (20:40.0). Jillian Blaser and Jadyn DeVerna followed in fourth and fifth with times of 20:44.0 and 20:48.9. Ave Maria pushed its third runner across the line before Sarah Foreman and Ashlin Price completed the five SEU scoring runners in seventh (21:24.4) and eighth (21:31.2).
With all five of its runners in the top eight, SEU's team total finished at 27, good enough for the one-point title over Ave Maria's 28. Completing the field, South Florida State College was third (91) with Central Florida and Florida College at 112 and 134.
The Fire top seven was completed by Izzy Colebank and Sophie Robinson in team fashion with another pair back-to-back in 12th (21:51.9) and 13th (21:59.5).
Men Finish in Second Place
Ethan Campbell and Joshua Shields led the Southeastern University men's cross country charge and helped the team for second in the Fire Invitational of a tight top-three team finish Saturday morning.
After Florida Tech's top two runners garnered first and second and Ave Maria first runner was third, Campbell and Shields finished back-to-back in fourth (27:28.4) and fifth (27:39.9). Following them was Jordan Hierholzer taking eighth (28:01.4), SEU's key two scorers came from its fourth and fifth runners. Nathan Evans crossed the line in 10th (28:22.7) and bested both Ave Maria's fourth and fifth-best members before Noah Joos grabbed 19th (29:40.3).
With the two key Fire final two scoring runners, SEU beat Ave Maria for second place by a single point, 46-47. Florida Tech, off the power of the first two racers and all five scoring runners in the top 13, won the meet with 37 points. Florida College, St. Leo and Beacon College rounded out the field with 100, 159 and 173 points, respectively.
After the Fire's five scoring runners, Felipe Ledesma and Tobias Dickerson completed the top seven in 21st and 22nd in 29:47.1 and 29:48.1 over the 8K course.
The men's and women's teams will have almost three weeks off before they return to action in the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee on September 27. The men's race will start at 7:40 a.m. with the women following at 8:20 a.m..
SEU Remaining Results - Women
Natalie Rohm 22:04.4
Jaa'Ln McBride 22:19.7
Maci Mills 22:28.8
Marlee Irvin 22:46.9
Kaitlyn Vorkapich 23:02.1
Brianna Sheppard 23:12.5
Ashlyn Poulin 23:34.7
Jaade McBride 23:42.9
Riley McKinney 23:46.1
Gracie McGee 24:24.8
Jocelyn Rivera 27:17.7
SEU Remaining Results - Men
Spencer Louis 29:48.5
Emilio Ancaya 29:58.8
Jeremy Durbin 30:02.0
Michael McDow 30:15.2
Luke Callery 30:25.5
TJ Sanders 30:48.6
Kodi Quimby 36:06.0
Carson Hill 37:09.8
Tyler Moody 39:53.5
