LAKELAND, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle men's cross country team made a bold statement in the first race for the Eagles as full NCAA II members, winning the 5K Holloway Park Festival on Saturday morning. The Eagles, ranked fifth in the South Region preseason rankings, beat out host Florida Southern and Saint Leo, ranked second and fourth, respectively in those same rankings, to claim their first team title since 2015.

Embry-Riddle - 1st of 5 (Meet Results)
The Eagles scored 27 points to win the crown, putting five runners in the top 11, including the second, third and fourth-place finishers. Florida Southern finished second with 39 points, with Saint Leo (64), Morehouse (108) and Rollins (155) rounding out the NCAA II top-five.

The Eagles 
Freshman Shaun Bullock had the most impressive Eagle collegiate debut in recent memory, garnering meet runner-up honors in 15:50.84, just six seconds behind the meet champion Bobby Ormsby of FSC. Bullock was followed closely by teammates Matt Graves (15:57.75) and Calahan Warren (16:00.09) in third and fourth. Stephen Dietz had his best overall finish as an Eagle as he ran to an eighth-place finish in 16:24.94), and Noah Kemp rounded out the Eagle top-five in 11th (16:30.79).

Brian Cheluget (17:07.41) and Adam Lawrence (17:08.28) placed 19th and 21st overall, while James Fell (17:24.85) and Austin Epstein (17:24.93) finished neck-and-neck at 30th and 31st. A trio of Blue and Gold runners went 34th, 35th and 36th in Shad McGrew (17:39.66), John Dennehy (17:41.67) and Drew Hart (17:44.16).

Also running for the Eagles on Saturday were Bryce Cole (39th - 17:54.36), Will Rice (44th - 18:20.95), Bryce Walker (50th - 18:40.30) and Cameron Dill (62nd - 19:53.74).

Quotable
"Our men had a very impresive performance today," Head Coach Mike Rosolino said. "At the two-mile point we were in second, but the men all closed well in the last mile to take the victory. I was very excited to see the heart and guts they ran with today. This was a great start to the season and we look forward to building on it."

Next Up
Embry-Riddle will host its lone home meet of the season on Sept. 16, the ASICS Embry-Riddle Classic, on the campus of Embry-Riddle.