HARDEEVILLE, S.C.- The Ave Maria University cross country teams finished the 2019 regular season on Saturday morning at the Sand Shark Invitational, hosted in Hardeeville, South Carolina by the University of South Carolina Beaufort. On the famously fast track, the Gyrene men posted a sixth place finish as a team, while the women placed ninth.

Gabriel Hogan was the lead runner of all Sun Conference entrants on Saturday morning, as runners from AMU, USCB, SCAD Savannah, Keiser, Warner, and St. Thomas took part. Hogan finished fourth in a time of 26:26.07, behind just two runners from SCAD Atlanta and one from Savannah State. Hogan's finish was his fastest time since last season's National Championships, and was recorded as the third best time in school history.

Behind Hogan for the Gyrenes were DJ Mason (28:17.17) and Jonathan Kohr (28:19.61), both of whom recorded times in the top 50 in AMU school history. Ave Maria's team score, which was third best of the Sun Conference teams in the 17-team field, was rounded out by Joseph Mullally (29:20.74) and Gabe Wilamowski (29:35.79).

Mary Goetz ran her fastest time of the season on Saturday, and the second fastest time of her career. The sophomore finished the 5k course in 18:38.21, a time only topped by her performance in last season's National Championships. Goetz's time was good for fifth best in school history, and was just the eighth sub-19 minute time in the history of the program. 

Grace McKillip also posted a top-50 time in school history (20:37.73), as did Isabella Schlitz (20:46.44). The Gyrenes, who finished ahead of Keiser, USCB, and Warner among Sun Conference schools, also counted times from Hannah Francis (20:54.01) and Jacinta King (20:55.90) as part of their team score at Sergeant Jasper Park.

Ave Maria will return to Jasper Park in two weeks' time for the 2019 Sun Conference Championships. The November 9 race will determine national qualifiers, as well as this season's conference champions. The men's race will lead off the action at 8:00 a.m., with the women's race concluding the day at 8:45 a.m.