Results
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle men's cross country squad ran one of the fastest races in program history on Saturday morning at the University of Florida's Mountain Dew Invitational as eight of the Eagles' 13 runners posted career-fastest times en route to the non-DI team crown. Reining Sunshine State Conference Runner of the Week,
Ryan Szklany etched his name into the ERAU men's cross country record books with a time of 24:51.6, becoming the seventh-fastest runner in program history.
The Eagles finished fourth overall in the 22-team field, but were easily the top non-DI team at the meet, totaling 102 points. The Blue and Gold out-ran NCAA I's Stetson, Florida Atlantic, Miami, South Florida, Florida International and Jacksonville thanks to their top six runners finishing in the top 40 overall. The Eagles were more than 80 points clear of Flagler (185), while SSC foes Saint Leo (221), Lynn (224), Palm Beach Atlantic (351), Nova Southeastern (353) and Florida Tech (262) finished well back of Embry-Riddle.
Szklany's time of 24:51.6 put him ninth overall and made him the top non-DI finisher.
Calahan Warren and
Lelei Too ran close together and finished 20th and 21st overall, respectively, in 25:26.2 and 25:29.6, both putting their names on the fastest-runner list in Eagle history at 14th and 15th. Warren's time was the second-fastest of his career (25:04.63 at the Sand Shark Invitational - Oct. 22, 2016), but his career-best came as an unattached runner during his redshirt season.
Paul McKenna was the fourth Eagle to cross the finish line, finishing 26th in 25:43.5 and
Paris Williams was close behind in 36th with a career-best 26:06.4.
Shaun Bullock (40th - 26:15.3),
Brian Cheluget (54th - 26:36.7),
Adam Lawrence (76th - 27:11.2),
Justin Nauman (103rd - 27:53.1),
John Dennehy (112th - 28:06.5),
Drew Hart (114th - 28:07.4),
Garrett Noltemeyer (142nd - 29:17.4) and
Bryce Walker (148th - 30:06.2) also competed for Embry-Riddle, with Bullock, Nauman, Hart, Noltemeyer and Walker all posting personal-best 8K times.
The Eagles will head to Charlotte, North Carolina next weekend for the Queen City Invitational on Friday, Sept. 28. The meet will be held at McAlpine Creek Park.
