Falcons Step Up at St Leo Invitational

Men's Cross Country stepped up at the St. Leo Invitational held at the Abbey Golf Course, placing first among NJCAA schools and fifth overall out of 14 teams.  Embry Riddle took the team title with 43 points, followed by Florida Southern 54 points, St Leo with 65 points, and Tampa's 101 points.  The Falcons scored 108 points, with a 27:00 team average for the 8000 meter race.   Lead by Sebastian Hernandez who placed second overall, out of 148 runners, with a time of 25:42, the Falcons held off Region rivals Lake Sumter and Pasco Hernando.  Hernandez time was a minute faster than his time on the course last year, as was the Falcons #4 runner Mitchell Curtis, running 27:18.  At one point in the race, Curtis and first year runner Jared Falchook joined Falcons #2 runner Christian Ruocce to move as a trio to propel the Falcons up in the team standings.  Freshman Julian Pomales rounded out the top five with a time of 27:53.  "We know what we've got in this group.  We are just going to continue to work hard and focus on getting to November healthy and strong", commented Coach Judy Wilson.