The Emory women’s cross country team took home first place and the men runner-up honors at the season-opening Berry College Clara Bowl Invitational.

The women's side, ranked 31st nationally in Division III, topped the four-team field with 20 points, well ahead of SCAD Savannah’s runner-up mark of 51 points.  Host Berry College was third with 68 points while LaGrange totaled 120 points.  Emory saw its top five runners take home the Nos. 2-6 scoring positions led by junior Marissa Gogniat (Monroeville, PA) who crossed the finish line second out of 50 runners with a 6K time of 23:39.  The senior duo of Tamara Surtees (Chagrin Falls, OH) and Stephanie Crane (Annapolis, MD) claimed third and fourth place, respectively, with Surtees posting an effort of 23:40 and Crane a 23:43.  Sophomore Sophie Cemaj (Omaha, NE) turned in a personal-best time of 24:00 that placed fifth in the field while freshman Halle Markel (Chagrin Falls, OH) rounded out the Eagles’ scorers with a 24:04.

On the men’s side, the Eagles recorded 31 points, just one point behind first-place SCAD Savannah.  Berry was third with 67 points while LaGrange registered 120 points.  Emory claimed three of the top six overall finishers in the 43-runner field led by senior Alex Fleischhacker (San Diego, CA) who covered the 8K course at 27:23, good for second place.  Junior Lukas Mees (Marion, IA) posted a 27:51 that ranked fourth while freshman Jordan Flowers (Dunwoody, GA) finished sixth with a 28:21.  Rounding out the team’s scorers were sophomore Grant Murphy (28:30, 9^th) and senior Tyler Cooke (28:31, 10^th).

The Eagles return to action on Sept. 13 when they venture to Greenville, South Carolina, to compete in the Furman Classic.