AVE MARIA, Fla. — The Ave Maria Cross Country team defended their home course soundly Saturday morning, with both the men's and women's teams winning the Ave Maria Invitational. Both teams made up at least half of their respective top 10s in the race around the Gyrene Athletic Fields.
The men raced first, running a four-mile course. Donavan Mattson led the team with a time of 20:33.3 and placed second overall individually. David Giles was right behind him third place, followed by Sam Paga in fourth place and Sebastian Shea in fifth place. John Halverson finished in eighth place and Connor Coyle rounded out the top 10 in tenth place.
As a team, the Gyrenes were first in points after every mile, but added more and more distance between themselves and the Bobcats in the later half of the race. After the first two miles, Ave Maria had a four-point lead on the St. Thomas Bobcats with four runners in the top 10. In the third miles, Halverson snuck into the top 10 as some of the Bobcat runners started to fall on the leaderboard. Coyle broke the top 10 in the last mile and helped increase the Gyrenes' lead on St. Thomas.
In the team standings, the men finished first with a score of 22 points. St. Thomas was right behind them with 42, followed by Saint Leo in third with 91 points.
Following the men's race, the Women ran a 5k and dominated that just like their male counterparts.
Five Gyrene women placed in the top 10, led by Esther Shipley finishing second with a time of 19:27.2. She was followed by Clare Owen in third place, Anabella Descalzo in fourth, Maria Gutierrez in fifth and Lily Hynds in seventh.
The Gyrenes finished atop the team leaderboard with 21 points, followed by Barry in second with 68 and Saint Leo in third with 93.
It is the second team win this season for the Ave Maria men, and the first team win for the women.
The Gyrenes get a weekend off before heading north to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to race in the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge. Ave Maria ran in the race last year and had three men's runners break the previous fastest 8k times in school history. It is a fast course that the Gyrenes have fond memories from, and they are hoping to repeat their success from 2024.
The Great Lakes Challenge is October 25.
