LAKELAND, Fla.- The Ave Maria University men's and women's cross country teams competed in one of the very first NAIA sporting events of the 2020-21 school year on Saturday morning, running in the Fire Short Course Invitational. The race, which was hosted by Southeastern University and held at Sun 'n Fun in Lakeland, saw both Ave Maria teams finish in second place, with both teams boasting multiple top ten finishers.

Mary Goetz, who has been the top Gyrene finisher in every race of her career, crossed the finish line second in the women's race. Goetz, who finished less than 15 seconds behind race winner Julia Rohm of Southeastern, finished the race in 12:09.58, the second fastest 3k time in AMU history. Freshman Anna Morris also finished in the top ten, logging a ninth-place finish with a time of 12:46.63.

Ave Maria's team score was rounded out by Grace McKillip, Mary Dyke, and Peyton Brugger. McKillip recorded a time of 13:55.73, while Dyke completed her first college race in a time of 14:02.93. The final of Ave Maria's counting scores was posted by Brugger, who crossed the finish line at 14:16.89.

Thanks to six of the top seven finishers in the race - with Goetz as the only disruption - Southeastern cruised to the team title. Ave Maria outpaced third-place USCB by 12 points, with the Gyrenes taking second with 73 points to the Sand Sharks' 85. Webber (94 points) and Florida College (98 points) rounded out the field.

On the men's side, a freshman led the way for Ave Maria's second place finish. Adam Paga took fifth place with a career-starting time of 17:59.06. Paga was one of five runners to finish the 5k course in less than 18 minutes. The Gyrenes also had another runner in the top ten in sophomore Jonathan Kohr, who placed eighth with a time of 18:18.16. 

With the exception of team champion Southeastern, the Gyrenes were the only team to place all five scoring runners in the top 20. Sophomore David Adamitis placed 13th by crossing the finish line at 18:40.18, and DJ Mason followed with a 16th place finish at 18:43.86. The Ave Maria team score was completed by Erik Minter, who placed 18th with a time of 18:46.62.

Led by individual champion John Perez-Dunn, the host Fire claimed the team championship with 22 points. Thanks to their five top-20 finishers, the Gyrenes outpaced USCB for second place by 16 points (58 points to 74). Warner and Webber tied for fourth place with 111 points, but the Royals claimed the spot on the tiebreaker.

The Gyrenes will head back to Lakeland in just under three weeks for the FLRunners.com Invitational on September 25. The men will run at 7:20 a.m., while the women are scheduled for a 7:50 start time at Holloway Park. The race will be the first 8k race for the men and first 5k race for the women, which will be the standard lengths throughout the season.