LAKELAND, Fla. — The Ave Maria Cross Country team finished strong in the first race of the 2024 season in the Southeastern Fire Invitational. The women's team placed second while the men's team finished in third place.

It was a muddy day on the course in Lakeland, but that didn't bother the Gyrenes. On the women's side, Ave Maria had two of the top three finishers. Sophomore Madison Thomas finished second of the 67 racers in the 5k course with a time of 20:22.6. Right behind her was another sophomore in Sofia Torres with a time of 20:30.5.

The Gyrenes had four more runners to close out the top of 12 of the race.

As a team, the Ave Maria women finished just one point behind host Southeastern, who won the race.

In the men's race, Ave Maria finished in third place, also just one point behind Southeastern.

Christopher Hermann, a senior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was the top finisher for the Gyrenes, placing third in the whole race. Hermann finished the 8k course with a time of 27:26.6, just 19 seconds behind the leader from Florida Tech.

Ave Maria had two more racers finish in the top 10, with junior John Halverson clocking in at 27:42.9 in sixth place and sophomore Shea Sebastian getting seventh with a time of 27:58.8.

"[It was a] really good opener on the same course we will see for the conference meet," said Head Coach Alan Webb.

The Gyrenes will run again September 21 in the ERAU Cross Country Classic.