The Stetson Cross Country teams continued to sharpen their performance as they near championship season, traveling to Louisville, Kentucky this past weekend to compete against nationally ranked programs from across all divisions, as well as their ASUN rivals.

The men's team opened the day in the championship 8K race, placing 18th out of 32 teams and finishing ahead of conference foes FGCU and Bellarmine, as well as Xavier, Richmond, and Marshall. The Hatters showcased their depth with another fresh face at the top of the lineup. Freshman Kenan Willard ran 25:07, earning 79th place, which moves him to #11 all-time in Stetson history and #2 on the freshman all-time list. He was followed closely by redshirt sophomore Michael Petrovic (102nd, 25:20) and junior Robbie Champa (105th, 25:21), with the trio collectively moving up 50 spots in the final 4K of the race. Freshmen Jonathan Pena (119th, 25:28) and Eduardo Diaz (146th, 25:37) completed the scoring, putting all five Hatters within 30 seconds of one another. Junior Seth Singer (198th, 26:01), sophomore Zeke Galbraith (230th, 26:24), and Braden Motycka (260th, 26:46) also competed.

On the women's side, freshman Hannah Judge competed in the Championship 5K, breaking the all-time freshman record by 16 seconds with a time of 18:00.6, earning 65th place. The remainder of the team competed in the 6K race, led by senior Deanna Bottino, who finished 79th in 23:26. Freshman Kendall Wampler (94th, 23:37) and sophomore Madi Kerr-Wong (110th, 23:54) followed closely, while freshman Avery Sommers (151st, 24:22) and senior Sofia Azzollini (234th, 25:09) made strong moves in the final 2K, collectively passing 34 runners to round out the scoring. The women finished 26th out of 47 teams.

The Hatters will look to continue their strong season on Friday, October 17, at the Florida Southern Invitational in Lakeland, Florida.