Ocala, Fla. – It was a banner day for the Lake-Sumter State College cross country teams with the men taking home first place at the B3R Invitational Friday for the first time in program history.
No one was quite sure what the expectations should be when Lake-Sumter started cross country in 2019. A year later and the men's team has already sent two runners to the NJCAA Championships and as of Friday, took home first place at an event as a team. Count 'em, 4 of the top 5 NJCAA finishers were Lakehawks at the B3R Invitational.
Adolfo Saucedo Flores took home second in the race and first among LSSC runners with a time of 17:06.3, finishing just 00:07 behind the first place competitor from Florida State College - Jacksonville. Alexander Croy and William Troupe came in third and fourth place respectively. Nicholas Atkinson challenged his teammate Troupe down the stretch in a full-out sprint, finishing just 00:05 behind him. Ernesto Velasquez finished eighth among NJCAA participants in one of his best performances yet.
"The men's team continues to improve both in race tactics and in mental toughness," said Head Coach, Cristy Snellgroves. "The workouts and the miles they have been posting will pay off in the next couple of events leading into the State/Regional meet."
For the third week in a row, Kyja Williams took home first place on the women's side among NJCAA runners and second overall. Williams again crushed her previous personal best time my 30 seconds on the course. Victoria Bell finished just outside the top 25, but continued her improved beating her previous best time by 48 seconds. Isabel Panganiban, Chloe Grozdanich and Michelle Dudley completed the event in that order for the Lakehawks all while running their best races of the year. The team finished fourth on the day.
"I just am continually impressed by the determination and camaraderie of our women's team," said Snellgroves. "They just keep improving every week and keep meeting and surpassing the goals they set."
This week, the teams will head to Jacksonville, FL for the Florida State College Invitational where the men will be running in an 8k for this event.