FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Stetson Hatter cross country teams opened their 2012 seasons by finishing in sixth place Friday night at the FGCU Invitational.

The Stetson men finished sixth, while the host, Florida Gulf Coast, finished in first place. Lipscomb finished second in the standings and was followed by Nova Southeastern, Florida Atlantic and Florida International.

The Hatter men were led by senior Brian Dughi in 30^th place overall. He finished the race with a time of 30:05.6. Fellow senior Kyle Burton, who had a time of 30:25.5, followed Dughi immediately in the standings.

The rest of the Hatters finished in a tight group with Andrew Townes (31:52.6) in 38th, Jeremy Butler (32:46.7) in 40th with Ryan Hodgins (34:57.1), Angelo Parkinson (36:35.7)  Deryck Greene (37:16.43), James Welch III (39:08.4), Matthew Ady (39:55.4) and Austyn Finnk (41:49.2) finishing together in 42nd through 47th place..

Junior Andrew Epifanio did not finish the race due to heat related illness. He was taken to the hospital as a precaution, but he has been relased and will be ok. 

The women finished in sixth with Lipscomb winning the race by holding seven of the top eight positions. Florida Gulf Coast finished second, while third, fourth, and fifth place were the same as the men, with Nova Southeastern, Florida Atlantic, and Florida International holding those same positions.

The top runner for the Hatter women was freshman Trixi May Menge, who finished the race in 29th place with a time of 20:43.4. Following her in 44^th was freshman Jessica Cosgrove, who had a race time of 22:12.3.

The rest of the Hatters runners were: Emmie Wenzell (22:51.4) in 46th, Christine Iseley (23:15.6) in 49th, Constance Compton (25:03.08) in 51st, Shannon Harrell (26:12.6) in 52nd, Haleigh Fecteau (26:34.7) in 53rd and Olena Vlasyuk (28:37.8) in 54th.

The next race for the Hatters will be on September 15 when they travel to compete in the UF Mountain Dew Invitational.