Results

The Emory men's and women's cross country teams came through with solid performances Saturday at the University of Montevallo Falcon Classic.  The competitions were held at the Montevallo Cross Country Course.

The Emory men's side posted a fourth-place finish out of 25 teams, finishing with 134 points.  Division I member Florida A&M claimed the top spot with 18 points while Lee University, the No. 21^st-ranked program in Division II, was runner-up with 59 points. Mississippi State was third (88 pts.) and host Montevallo rounded out the top five with 220 points.  Leading the Emory contingent was junior Sam Branson, whose 8K time of 26:05 represented his second-fastest career effort and that placed 20^th out of 227 entries.  Sophomore Jack Whetstone was the second Eagle to cross the finish line and 24^th overall with a career-best mark of 26:15. Sophomore Egan Kattenberg also registered a personal-best time, checking in with a 26:22 that ranked 28^th among the field.  Closing out the Emory scorers were sophomore Matt Dillon (26:24, 30^th place) and freshman Brett Lucas (26:24, 33^rd place).

The women's unit raced to a third-place performance out of 22 teams, tallying 93 points.  Mississippi State was first with 41 points, followed by Lee's total of 55 points. Florida A&M (95 pts.) and Columbus State (185 pts.) were fourth and fifth, respectively.  Senior Kaylee Slade paced the Emory pack and was eighth overall out of 195 runners with a personal-best 5K time of 18:54.  Sophomore Susie Martin was second on the team and 22^nd on the finishing board at 19:30 while senior Kayla O'Shea's effort of 19:32 with 24^th.  Junior Meredith Hughes (19:38, 28^th place) and sophomore Abby Durfee (19:51, 33^rd place) accounted for the rest of the team scoring.

The No. 24-ranked men and 29^th-ranked women return to action on Saturday, September 29, when they compete at the JSU Foothills Invitational.