DOVER, Fla. - Junior All-American Evans Kirwa began the 2011 season strong, winning the UT Early Bird Classic in 19:25, 12 second ahead of the second-place runner. The Eagles as a team placed second overall, finishing just behind a semi-professional running team by 11 points, but placing first amongst the collegiate teams at the race.

Kirwa's first-place finish paved the way for fellow Eagles Alex Frazier and Josh Guerrero to finish 12th and 13th respectively. Frazier finished the 4-mile race in 20:33, while junior Guerrero came in at 20:35. Freshman Alec Hernandez (20:44) finished 16th overall, and ERAU's Zachary Kraus placed 19th in 20:51. All five of the Eagles' scorers finished in the top 20 runners. Jason Riggs (21:30) and Bruce Federico (22:01) also competed for the Blue and Gold.

Embry-Riddle's total time of 1:42.08 was less than a second slower than the meet winner, Running Center's time of 1:41.38, just 1:26 separated Kirwa from Kraus.

Florida Tech, Florida Southern and Nova Southeastern finished third, fourth and fifth in the 13 team, 140-runner event. The only other NAIA school was 11th-place Webber International.

ERAU will return to the Tampa, Fla. area for next Friday's (Sept. 9) USF Invite.