GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Embry-Riddle men's cross country team picked up right where they left off on Saturday morning at the Mountain Dew Invitational, hosted by the University of Florida. The Eagles, who were the top non-NCAA I finisher in every regular season meet a year ago, continued that trend to open the 2019 season, placing third overall and first among non-NCAA I teams.

The Eagles placed three runners in the top-25 overall, led by sophomore Ryan Szklany's fifth-place showing in 25:42.9. It was the third-fastest 8K time in Szklany's young career and his fifth top-10 finish.

Calahan Warren started his senior season off with a 20th-place finish (26:28.4), followed by Shaun Bullock (26:28.3) in 25th, Brian Cheluget (27:16.3) in 45th and freshman Tanner Rosolino (27:35.7) making his collegiate debut, rounding out the Eagle scorers in 63rd overall.

Austin Epstein (27:37.6) finished just a few seconds after Rosolino, with Justin Nauman (28:03.0) and Jacob Webster (28:58.4) and Josh Collins (29:08.0), Shane Brownrigg (29:26.4), John Dennehy (29:26.8) and Drew Hart (29:29.8) all finishing under 30 minutes. For Webster, Collins and Brownrigg, it was their first collegiate cross country performance. Charles Hruda (31:15.8) also competed in his first-ever college race.

"Our guys ran a really smart race today," Head Coach Mike Rosolino said. "We went out and controlled and moved forward the whole race. It was great to start the season with an amazing race by our top guys, especially Ryan (Szklany). We need to close our gap between four and five for the postseason, but we're excited for this beginning."

ERAU totaled 142 points on the day, with host Florida (40) winning the 31-team meet and North Florida (53) placing second overall. After the Eagles in third, it was Sunshine State Conference foe Saint Leo (168) in fourth and Flagler (182) rounding out the top five teams. The Blue and Gold easily outpaced NCAA I opponents Florida Gulf Coast, South Florida, Troy, Florida Atlantic, Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman and Jacksonville.

The Eagles will prepare for the annual ASICS Embry-Riddle Classic next week on Sept. 21 where they will look to defend their home title.