BY JACOB STOUT
Lions’ Pride Sports Writer

Courtesy of Mike Carlson

Alison Luthman

The Saint Leo men’s and women’s cross country teams recently competed in two meets. On October 2nd, the flrunners.com Invitational in Titusville, Florida saw the men’s team finish 8th and the women’s team finish 5th. On October 10th, the Disney Invitational saw a total of 25 men’s teams and 30 women’s teams compete. Saint Leo finished 23rd in both men’s and women’s divisions.

Sophomore Mike Berry paced the men’s team with a time of 17:48.16 over the 5K course at Chain of Lakes Park. His time was good for 24 points for the team. Florida Gulf Coast University, led by Kyle Brunette, won the meet with a blistering average time of 16:23.17. The Lions finished in 8th place with a total of 181 points and an average time of 19:42.52. Junior Matt Attal came in right behind Berry with a time of 17:54.94, good for 25 points. Freshman, Eric Dirth cruised to the finish with a time of 18:06.38 giving Saint Leo another 28 points. Sophomore Carson Holton and senior Robert Tester rounded out the top five for Saint Leo with times of 21:42.61 and 23:00.49 respectively.

The women’s team had a better day finishing 5th out of the 10 teams competing. Sophomore Kelsey Bradley led the lions with a time of 20:17.75 which was good for 22 points. Jacksonville torched the field by taking the top five spots of the meet. Elisabeth Goshu took the number one spot with a time of 18:01.49. Senior Tanja Redmond took 25 points for the Lions with a time of 20:47.59. Junior Alison Luthman finished with 29 points and a time of 21:20.33. Freshmen, Emily Egan and Mariah Moss completed the top five for Saint Leo with times of 22:00.66 and 22:34.24 giving the Lions 35 and 40 points. The women’s team finished with a total of 151 points.

The Disney Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida saw the men’s team, run to a disappointing finish in 23rd place out of 25 teams. Junior Matt Attal led the Lions with a time of 30:38.00 which got the team 107 points. Freshman Eric Dirth, sophomores Mike Berry and Carson Holton, and senior Robert Tester along with Attal made up the five point scorers for Saint Leo finishing with a total of 667 points. Kennesaw State took the event with a total of 42 points, led by senior Scott Burley.
The women’s team fared a little better finishing 23rd out of 30 teams. Sophomore Kelsey Bradley again led the Lions with a time of 21:29.10 and 88 points. Alison Luthman finished with a time of 22:01.50, good enough for 112 points. Freshmen Jillian Browne and Emily Egan along with senior Tanja Redmond rounded out the five point scorers for the Lions. Kennesaw State also took first place in the women’s event led by Mackenzie Howe. Saint Leo Finished with a total of 592 points.

On October 24th both the men’s and women’s teams competed in the Sunshine State Conference Championships in Lakeland, Florida.

The men’s team finished sixth and the women’s team finished fifth. The top three runners for the men’s team were Michael Berry, Matt Attal, and Eric Dirth while Kelsey Bradley, Jillian Browne and Alison Luthman placed top three for the women’s team. The NCAA South Regionals will be held November 7th in Tampa, Florida.