Montevallo, Ala. – The Valdosta State men's and women's cross country team finish their first event of the season Friday night, at the Montevallo Falcon Classic.  The men's team placed sixth in the 8K competing against 22 other school, while the women finished in fourth in the 5K running against 17 other schools. The Blazers were led by graduate student Logan Kraus on the men's side and Katie LaCroix's PR on the women's side.

For the men, graduate student Logan Kraus had a strong opening outing for the Blazers, finishing ninth with a time of 26:01.57. Graduate student Adam Mastrobuono was second for the Blazers with a time of 26:51.67 and finished 33^rd overall.  He was followed by junior Alec Munger in 44^th with a time of 27:21.66, while graduate student Dalton Pender finished 52^nd with a time of 27:49.41.  Freshman Nathan Haller from Macon, Ga., rounded out the top five for the Blazers in his debut with a time of 27:51.82 for 54^th overall.  Alabama-Huntsville finished in first place with 19 points, followed by West Georgia (92), Montevallo (101), Mobile (106), Wallace State (106), and Valdosta State (141) to round out the top six. Valdosta State finished higher than two fellow GSC schools, West Alabama and Shorter who finished 14^th (386) and 15^th (423), respectively. The average spread of the top five for the team was 1:50. Valdosta State averaged a team time of 27:11 for their top five.

For the women, all five Valdosta State runners finished in the top 50 in the 5K.  Leading the way was senior Katie LaCroix who crushed her best 5K time, finishing in 19:18.66, for 13^th place overall.  She was followed by junior Caitlyn Koske who ran a 19:28.79 time and placed 18^th. Freshman Leah John made her Blazer debut and impressed as she placed 25^th with a time of 19:52.73 as that was also her PR.  Fellow freshman Charlotte Carley finished just behind her in 30^th place, clocking a 20:12.78 PR in her first race as a Blazer. Senior Kyleigh Rice finished things off for VSU with a time of 20:52.65 and finished 45^th. Florida Southern took home first with 18 points, followed by Alabama-Huntsville (51), Montevallo (100), Valdosta State (119), and Wallace State (127) to round out the top five. The Blazers finished higher than three other GSC schools. They placed better than West Georgia (sixth), West Alabama (eight), Delta State (ninth), and Shorter (10^th). The average spread of the Blazers was 1:33 for their whole team. The Blazers averaged a team time of 19:57.

 
The Blazers compete in two weeks in the FSU XC Invite in Tallahassee, Florida on September 29^th.  
Click Here for a link to the men's cross country schedule
Click Here for a link to the women's cross country schedule