Gainesville, Fla. - The Stetson men's and women's cross country teams competed against strong and deep fields Saturday morning at the 23rd annual University of Florida Mountain Dew Invitational. The Hatter men placed 15th out of 17 teams while the women came in 16th of 19 squads. Among college/university teams only, Stetson's men were 13th of 15.

MEN'S 8K

Sophomore Andrew Epifanio (DeLand, Fla.) was the top finisher for Stetson men's cross country, placing 82nd overall out of 158 runners in a time of 28 minutes, 33.81 seconds. Junior Kyle Burton (Oviedo, Fla.) placed 107th in 29:46.27. Junior Brian Dughi (Jacksonville, Fla.) followed in 31:31.55 (107th) with freshman Jeremy Butler (Mims, Fla.), junior Peter Davis (Tampa, Fla.), freshman Angelo Parkinson (Wauchula, Fla.) and sophomore Deryck Greene (Jacksonville, Fla.) rounding out the Stetson competitive group.

Michigan raced to the team victory, upsetting nationally 28th-ranked host Florida and #30 North Carolina (second and third, respectively). The Florida Track Club finished fourth with Miami (Fla.), Embry-Riddle, FIU, USF, FGCU, Running Center Elite, Florida Atlantic, Nova Southeastern, Saint Leo and Flagler edging out the Hatters as well. Stetson (2:36:15.36 total time) bested Bethune-Cookman and Warner Southern in the meet.

82) Andrew Epifanio - 28:33.81; 107) Kyle Burton - 29:46.27; 131) Brian Dughi - 31:31.55; 137) Jeremy Butler - 32:32.48; 144) Peter Davis - 33:51.25; 147) Angelo Parkinson - 34:13.84; 151) Deryck Greene - 34:43.24

WOMEN'S 5K

Stetson senior Maria Harper (Tallahassee, Fla.) enjoyed a strong race in the women's 5K, placing 48th overall out of 208 runners in a time of 19 minutes, 40.69 seconds to lead the Hatters. Harper finished seventh among Atlantic Sun Conference runners in the event, which also featured A-Sun powers Jacksonville and FGCU. Sophomore Sabrina Guzsvany (Port Orange, Fla.) was Stetson's second finisher, taking 108th overall in 21 minutes, 19.32 seconds. Junior Alyssa Thompson (Mims, Fla.) and freshman Christine Iseley (Jacksonville, Fla.) also finished inside the top 150 overall.

Host Florida, ranked 25th nationally, ran to victory on its own course, knocking off 15th-ranked runner-up North Carolina and USF to earn the victory. The A-Sun showed well as traditional power Jacksonville claimed fourth place overall with Florida Atlantic, Embry-Riddle, Miami (Fla.), Nova Southeastern, FGCU, UCF, FIU, Palm Beach Atlantic, Saint Leo, Rollins, Flagler, Stetson (total time: 1:50:31.76), Pasco-Hernando CC, Bethune-Cookman and Warner Southern rounding out the field.

48) Maria Harper - 19:40.69; 108) Sabrina Guzsvany - 21:19.32; 142) Alyssa Thompson - 22:40.37; 150) Christine Iseley - 23:24.05; 151) Tabitha Castillon - 23:27.33; 177) Stephanie Bird - 24:53.47; 178) Julie Spear - 25:00.71; 184) Shannon Harrell - 25:43.24

The Hatters next run Friday, September 30 in the FLRunners.com Invitational in Titusville, Fla.

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