GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The 21st-ranked Embry-Riddle Men's Cross Country team took home sixth place at the Mountain Dew Invitational, hosted by the University of Florida, on Saturday morning. The Eagles finished ahead of six NCAA I teams, and totalled 192 points on the day.

Junior Evans Kirwa nearly made it three straight wins to open up the 2011 season, leading the race until the final 400m. The native of Eldoret, Kenya would end up finishing fourth in 24:27.23, the 11th-fastest time in Embry-Riddle history. Kirwa now owns nine of the top-20 times for ERAU.

Alex Frazier recorded his third, second-place finish of the year, racing to a time of 26:33.91, his fastest 8K mark of the season. New Milford, Connecticut's own Zachary Kraus was the third Blue and Gold finisher in 27:01.07 and newcomer Alec Hernandez placed 66th in 27:56.67, the third time in as many races the freshman has placed in ERAU's top five.

Rounding out the Eagle scorers was Patrick Clare (28:15.71), while Jacob Dordick (28:26.48) and Jason Riggs (28:53.01) both finished in the top-90.

"We're continuing to improve, and that's what is important," Eagle Head Coach Mike Rosolino said. "Evans and Alex ran good races for us, and as a team we were much closer to Miami this week than we were last week."

Michigan (42) won the 17-team event, while host Florida (46), North Carolina (47), Florida Track Club (165) and Miami (Fla.) (188), finished out the top five. The Eagles fell just four points shy of besting the Hurricanes, but did manage to coast past NCAA I members Florida International, South Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Atlantic, Stetson and Bethune-Cookman.

Embry-Riddle will return to Daytona Beach to host the annual Asics Embry-Riddle Classic on Oct. 8. The Eagles will look to claim the sixth consecutive title in the event.