Men Cross Country Finish 5th at CSU Open

CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Columbia College men's cross country team competed in the season opening CSU Buccaneer 6K Open on Friday morning in Charleston finishing in 5th place and second among NAIA schools.

Freshman Alex Blake finished 24th overall out of 52 in a time of 21:15 in the 3.8 mile race. Fellow freshmen Jesse Gourde and Elijah Fink then finished 2nd and 3rd on the team and 31st and 32nd overall. Gourde ran a time of 21:42 while Fink crossed in 22:01. 

Freshman DJ McGriff-Agers then came in 38th in 23:53 while senior Kristian Sanchez was 45th in 25:14 to complete the team scoring. Freshmen William Parker and Jalen Miller then finished 46th and 47th respectively in times of 26:36 for Parker and 27:50 for Miller. Freshman Jimmy Bates and sophomore Jude Dill also competed placing 49th and 50th. Bates came across in 28:21 while Dill was in 28:38.