VALDOSTA, Ga. – Four Valdosta State cross country runners have qualified for the Division II National Invitational in Lubbock, Texas set for Saturday, Nov. 14.
 
The four runners who qualified are Brishen House from the men's team and Angie Cipriani, Samantha Murray, and Kailey Brough from the women's team. However, due to his personal health and well-being, House will not be competing. The race will be hosted by Lubbock Christian University and the women are set to run a 6K, the second time they would do so this year.
 
A team that finished in the top 40% of the teams who are eligible to compete in their conference championship qualified and in the Gulf South Conference's case, four men's teams qualified along with five women's teams. Each conference was also granted one individual equal to how many teams were invited for their conference and because of their performance at the Gulf South Conference Championship, these four Blazers qualified.
 
Since House will not be making the trip to Lubbock, he will finish his junior year holding the fastest 8K time in school history at 25:10.54, beating out the old record he set earlier this season. House finished 16^th at the Gulf South Conference Championship and earned Second Team All-Conference which hasn't happened for a men's runner since 2014. On the season, House set three new personal bests and placed first, fourth, and ninth.
 
Cipriani, who placed eighth overall and earned First Team All-Conference at the Championship, set the school record for the fastest 5K time at 18:09.09. The senior has placed second and 11^th during the other two 5K's that she raced in this year and looks to improve upon her 6K personal best time of 22:46.4 set in 2019.
 
Murray was the next Blazer from the women's team to qualify as she earned Second Team All-Conference and placed 16^th overall at the Championship. Murray has improved each time she competed this season, setting a new personal best in all four races including her most recent contest where she finished with a time of 18:53.53 which puts her in the top five in school history for the fastest women's 5K time. Murray placed sixth overall among Division II runners during her last 6K race Oct. 16, 2020, at the Blazer Classic and beat out her old 6K personal best time by two minutes.
 
Brough is set to compete coming off a race where she set a new personal best time of 19:46.5, beating her old time by 40 seconds. The junior will look to continue her improvement on the year as she placed in the top 20 amongst Division II runners during her last 6K race while setting a new personal best time of 24:54.4.
 
If you would like to donate to help cover the team's expenses, email cross country head coach Todd Smoot at tlsmoot@valdosta.edu to get more information.