SPARTANBURG, SC - After nearly a month away from racing due to hurricane Helene and Milton the Stetson cross country team returned to action with a 6th place men's finish and a 7th place women's finish at the USC Upstate Invitational, with eight Hatters earning a personal best.

In the women's 5K, Blair Durda was the top finisher for the Hatters recording an 18th place finish with a time of 18:19. Just behind Durda was freshmen Madison Kerr-Wong who crossed the line in 22nd with a time of 18:30 a personal best for Kerr-Wong. Deanna Bottino finished in 43rd with a time of 19:07.5, while Annabelle Brink was the next Hatter to come across in 78th with a time of 19:29.1, a personal best for Brink. Taylor Cushenberry recorded a 99th place finish with a time of 19:59.4, her personal best and third Hatter in the race to have a PR. 

Rylan Holmquist ran a 20:30.5 for 119th and Kiley Summerlin was shortly behind Holmquist with a 20:46.7 for 131st. Madeleine Empric ran a 21:24 for 152nd. 

The Stetson women's team recorded a 7th place finish out of 19 teams, as they were ahead of Gardner-Webb, Georgia State, newcomer to the ASUN West Georgia and host USC Upstate. Individually there were 192 total runners in the women's race.

The men's 8K saw Conrad Voigt pace the Hatters finishing in 20th with a time of 25:00 a personal best for Voigt. Eduardo Diaz Deanda, also recorded a personal best with a time of 25:31.4 for 37th. Seth Singer was another Hatter to cross the line in the 25th minute with a time of 25:46.5, his personal best at Stetson. 

Luke Danison recorded an 86th place finish with a time of 26:37.7 and Zeke Galbraith was right behind with a 90th finish and time of 26:39.5 personal best. Another pair of Hatters crossed the line in 98th and 99th as Robbie Champa ran 26:53.3 and Carlos Cerrud ran 26:53.6 a personal best for the freshmen.

The men's team finished of 6th out of the 18 teams in the race, placing ahead of schools such as USC Upstate, West Georgia and Wofford. The men's 8K had a total of 199 runners.

Up next for the women's and men's cross country program is the ASUN Championship November 1st. The ASUN Championship was originally scheduled to be in DeBary, FL, however it has been moved to Jacksonville, FL due to hurricane Milton.