Eagles Keep Pace with NCAA Schools at UNG Invitational

Gainesville, GA - The Eagles Men's & Women's Cross Country were in action on Friday evening at the University of North Georgia Invitational.  There were many NCAA Di, Dii, & DIII teams in attendance so the competition level was high.

Both Men's and Women's teams had good results as the runners keep trying to knock seconds off their personal times.  

On the Men's side, Tom Vincent was the standout runner finishing in the pack of a talented field of top-level runners. Vincent finished 22nd overall and was the first NAIA participant to cross the finish line. He ran 26:57 in the men's 8k and he was closely followed by teammate and freshman, Braniff Mahoney. Mahoney came across the finish with a time of 27:32.

The remainder of the dynamic freshman trio - Jorge Morales and Noah Jones - came in at 28:05 and 28:38 respectively. With two official 8ks under their belts, the freshman trio has shown that they are going to pieces that Coach Brennan can use to challenge the top teams of the Appalachian Atheltic Conference (AAC).

The remainder of the Eagles were as follows:

• Arat Joanico, 28:58

• Christopher Smith, 29:32

• Cameron Yates, 29:44

Brooke Simon was the top runner for the Eagles this week after missing last week's meet with an injury. She finished 41st overall with a time of 21:36.  On her heels was freshman Sara James who came in two seconds behind Simon with a time of 21:38.  

Megan Johnson was close behind Simon and James with a time of 22:13 finishing in 46th place overall.  Sarah Timmerman and MaLeah Heath rounded out the Women's squad with times of 27:25 and 28:21 respectively.

It was another good meet for both Eagles squads as they showed that they could run with NCAA teams. You can expect that times will continue to drop as the season progresses and the Eagles start competing with AAC teams.

The Eagles will have next weekend off and then return to competition on September 30th at the "Live in Lou" Cross Country Classic.

For a complete list of teams and runners, please see the below link:

https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/21266/UNG_Invitational