AVE MARIA, Fla.- The Ave Maria University cross country teams swept their home meet Saturday morning, as both the men and women rolled to team titles at North Park in the Ave Maria Invitational. Both Gyrene squads earned decisive victories in three team fields, and the Gyrene hardware included a dominant individual victory from reigning First Team All-Sun Conference runner Theresa Long in the women's race.

The men's race led off the action, with the Gyrenes placing seven runners in the top ten to claim the team title. Joseph Perreault led Ave Maria with a third place finish, with the junior running a season best time of 27:32.3. Samuel Paga was second among AMU runners, placing fourth overall with a time of 27:36.1, which also marked a collegiate personal best for the freshman and his first sub-28 minute time of the season.

Following the top two finishers, the next seven runners were all Gyrenes. Behind Perreault and Paga was Samuel's brother Adam, who took home fifth place with a 27:40.0 time, which marked another season best. In sixth place was Jorge Jimenez, who continued the streak of season bests with a time of 28:00.6. Another season best from Christopher Hermann, who crossed the finish line in 28:02.2, rounded out Ave Maria's victorious team score.

The victory for the AMU women marked their second consecutive team title, following the Gyrenes' win at Queens University. Theresa Long once again led the way for the Gyrenes, crossing the finish line more than one minute before any other runner at 19:00.6. Felicity Foxhoven was the next Gyrene across the finish line, earning overall runner-up honors with a time of 20:04.3 and topping her previous collegiate record by ten seconds.

In fourth place was AMU's Lily Burke, who ran the 5k Ave Maria course in 20:25.8. In each of the past four races, Ave Maria has had the same top four, a group rounded out by freshman Gabrielle Sjostedt, who took seventh overall with a time of 21:24.1. Ave Maria's team score, which was just five points more than the perfect score of 15, was rounded out by Lillian Brodeur's time of 21:30.0, which was good for eighth place.

Saturday morning's race was the regular season finale for the Gyrenes, who now turn their attention to The Sun Conference Championships, which will also determine bids to the NAIA National Championships in Tallahassee next month. The conference championship event will be held in two week's time, with SCAD-Savannah playing host.