Crawford Wins, HPU Men’s Cross Country Second At Furman

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Senior Patrick Crawford won the individual title at the Furman University Classic, leading the High Point University men’s cross country team to a runner-up showing on Saturday morning in Greenville, S.C. Redshirt-sophomore Jeff LaCoste placed third in the race.

“This was an excellent effort to get this runner-up finish today, I’m pleased with the way all 13 of our runners came out and performed,” said HPU head coach Mike Esposito. “Obviously that was a great race for Patrick. He had a goal to win races this season and he took this opportunity. Jeff is learning to manage cross country races and he did that today. This was a good step for us.”

Furman won the meet with a score of 35 points followed by High Point (63) and Duke (64). Georgia Tech placed fourth and Georgia took fifth in the 25-team field.

Crawford won the meet with a time of 23:46.67. He passed Furman freshman Tanner Hinkle with 2,000 meters to go and pulled away for the finish on the final loop of the course. LaCoste sprinted in with a time of 23:59.58, pulling away from Furman’s Troy Reeder.

Sophomore Benji Szalai placed 14th with a time of 24:29.97 in his first cross country race of the season. Sophomore Paddy Grandinali placed 19th in 24:35.55 and junior Reece Ayers took 26th in 24:52.14 to finish out HPU’s scoring.

HPU freshmen Vinny Todaro and Chernet Sisay both fared well in their first collegiate 8Ks. Todaro placed 30th in a time of 25:01.62 and Sisay placed 36th in 25:08.19.

Senior John Yankello placed 45th with a time of 25:24.06. Sophomore Cody Seymour placed 50th and junior Chris Colo took 53rd. Sophomore Kevin Maguire placed 63rd and freshman Mason Lenox took 69th in the race.

The Panthers run in the VMI Invitational next weekend in Buena Vista, Va. It’s the same course the Big South Championship will be held on in November. High Point runs in the Virginia/Panorama Farms Invitational on Sept. 28.