OXFORD, Ala. — The UT Southern men's cross country team delivered a strong performance at the JSU Foothills Invitational on Friday, finishing 4th out of 20 teams in a highly competitive field that featured several NCAA Division I programs, including Auburn, Troy, and Jacksonville State.
The Firehawks finished with a team total of 104 points and an impressive team average of 15:43 over the 5k course, defeating Southern States Athletic Conference opponents Blue Mountain and Faulkner along the way.
Bruno Villazon paced the Firehawks with a 7th-place overall finish, crossing the line in 15:07.61. He was followed closely by Frankline Kipruto in 17th place (15:34.97) and Martin VanHamme in 18th (15:35.29), giving UT Southern three runners inside the top 20.
Luca Neumeister and Amon Rotich rounded out the scoring five, finishing 30th (16:05.86) and 32nd (16:11.26), respectively. Matthew Andrea (42nd, 16:41.29) and Jacob Casteel (44th, 16:44.00) provided strong depth for the Firehawks.
UT Southern Finishers
Complete Team Standings
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
Average Time |
| 1 |
Jacksonville State |
46 |
15:12.49 |
| 2 |
Auburn |
56 |
15:13.51 |
| 3 |
Samford |
100 |
15:41.46 |
| 4 |
UT Southern |
104 |
15:43.00 |
| 5 |
Troy |
119 |
15:49.68 |
| 6 |
West Georgia |
130 |
15:52.13 |
| 7 |
Oglethorpe |
192 |
16:23.07 |
| 8 |
Blue Mountain |
226 |
16:42.98 |
| 9 |
Shelton State CC |
273 |
17:06.35 |
| 10 |
Faulkner |
341 |
17:53.85 |
| 11 |
Northeast Alabama CC |
343 |
17:40.63 |
| 12 |
Coastal Alabama CC |
376 |
17:57.42 |
| 13 |
Enterprise State CC |
387 |
17:58.39 |
| 14 |
Gadsden State CC |
392 |
18:21.43 |
| 15 |
Southern Union State CC |
407 |
18:18.10 |
| 16 |
Alabama State |
432 |
18:41.85 |
| 17 |
Northwest-Shoals CC |
459 |
19:35.96 |
| 18 |
LBW Community College |
538 |
20:28.86 |
| 19 |
Talladega |
551 |
20:43.86 |
| 20 |
Miss. Univ. for Women |
556 |
21:15.18 |
NEXT UP
UT Southern will travel to Florence, Ala., to race in the North Alabama Invitational at McFarland Park on September 5th.
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