Both the men's and the women's cross country took on the course in Fairburn, Georgia at the Georgia Tech XC Invitational this morning.

"Conditions on the course today were not suitable for quick times that we wanted but did allow us to work on tenacity and a collective team spirit," Head Coach Ken Roach said.

This course has been a favorite for many runners on the Bruins for it's amazing views and flat terrain. Scenes from several well-known movies have been filmed there as well.

The Bruins were lined up against a few NCAA D1 schools along with several D2 schools. The host Georgia Tech, South Alabama, Troy, Embry-Riddle, and Florida State were some of the teams represented. 

The men's 8k was first with an 8:30 a.m. starting gun. Going through several muddy spots, the Bruins runners found themselves with great pace. Several stayed in a pack for the first couple miles of the race. Evan Seaman led the way as he has all season long and finished with a personal record of 27:56. Joel Batres-Mena and Marc Johnson followed with season-best times of 28:40 and 28:50. Following close behind in the fourth position for the Bruins was Trenton Goldsmith who finished with a time of 29:07. To close out the top five, Levi Gerbitz also raced a season-best time of 29:51. Daniel Kyle, James Baer, Ian Flynn, Botond Berces, Luke Vandenberghe closed out the race for the Bruins with valiant efforts and good times.

"The guys ran very competitively today from top to bottom.  We grouped together very well and had a good finish," said Coach Roach.

After the men's race was completed, the women lined up for their 6k race. This marked the first 6k of the season for the Bruins. Joy Hast ran a great race and came across first at 24:39 with her parents in attendance. Joanna Lain came next finishing just inside the top 100 finishers at 99th overall with a time of 25:50. Kristen Dodds and Lauren Jones came next in the third and fourth positions for the Bruins at 26:42 and 27:03. And to round out the top five, freshman Hannah Cohen finished at 28:18. Naomi Mendoza, Ainsley Zimmerman, and Liz Farley all put up solid times and are working towards the postseason.

"The women had a strong effort but showed weakness with their finish position spreads," Coach Roach said. "We need to do better and will search for an answer as the season progresses."

After the race, the team as a whole felt like they had some unfinished business and look forward to their next race. 

Full results of today's races can be seen here.

The Bruins race next at the Upstate Invite on October 19 hosted by USC Upstate!