Spartan Men Dominate Field at FSC Invite
LAKELAND, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's and women's cross country teams both won the Jim Ryun Invitational, with the Spartan men claiming eight of the top 10 individual finishes.
The Spartan men finished with 18 points, with Sunshine state Conference opponent Florida Southern College coming in second with 85. Florida College, Warner, Rollins, Southeastern and Florida Christian College also competed.
Freshman Peter Licari won his first individual title, leading the 50-person field with a time of 28:49.01 in the 8K race.
Geremy Dewitt was second at 28:52.52 while Charles Toledo (4th, 25:09.90), Lewis Price (5th, 29:09.35), Tory Webb (6th, 29:10.66), Mike Zwijacz (7th, 29:16.62), Jake Bailey (9th, 30:06.95) and Mike Leone (10th, 30:22.08) were all top-10 finishers. Kyle Taylor also ran for the Spartans, placing 24th with a time of 33:50.62.
In the women's race, Tampa's "B" team won the title with 29 points as the "A" team in Gainesville for Saturday's UF Invitational. Pasco-Hernando Community College was UT's closest competition with 48 points as Rollins, Florida College, Southeastern, Warner and Florida Christian College all competed.
Courtney Ragan was UT's top performer, finishing third after being clocked at 21:31.35. Emily Scott (21:31.85) and Rose Bishop (21:35.69) finished fourth and fifth respectively in the 5K. Fellow Spartans Vanessa Righeimer (22:30.80) and Annais Pená (22:31.88) also rounded out the top-10.
Also running for the Spartans were Sarah Waller (15th, 23:07.21) and Kristin Kelly (17th, 23:13.78).
The Spartan women will race on Saturday the annual Mountain Dew Invitational, which will be hosted by the University of Florida. Both teams will next be in action on Saturday, Sept. 29 at the Saint Leo Invite.
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