Sept. 29, 2007

AUBURN, Ala. - On Saturday, sophomore Nathan Haskins led the Kennesaw State men's cross country team to a sixth place finish at the 2007 Tiger Invitational, held at the Indian Pines Golf Course.

The Owls (40-9) ran a tough race against a packed field of Division I opponents to finish with a score of 195 points. The University of Florida took first place as they dominated the field with five runners finishing in the top ten for a score of 24 points. LSU came in second with 74 points, host Auburn finished with 80 points for third place, Atlantic Sun Conference team Jacksonville State took fourth place with 108 points and Samford rounded out the top five teams with 125 points.

Out of a field of 168 runners, Haskins set a personal best on the 8k course as he finished in 39th place with a time of 25:48.90. This was the second consecutive meet that the sophomore has finished as the top runner for Kennesaw State. He was followed by teammate Michael Johnson in 46th place (26:03.05), Piotr Witczak in 50th place (26:09.06), Matthew Auers in 52nd place (26:11.15) and Peikko Solla in 64th place (26:31.07) to round out the scoring for KSU.

Freshman Adam Williams was also able to set a personal best as he finished the race with a time of 27:46.18.

"This was a tough race for our guys," said head coach Stan Sims. "The men are coming off of the two hardest weeks of training they have ever had. Still Nathan had a great day. I've never seen anyone train harder than he does and he keeps getting better after each meet. This race was a great chance for our guys to run against some tough teams and they did really well."

The men's cross country team will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to the Disney World Classic in Orlando, Florida.

Team Results
Tiger Invitational
1. Florida 24; 2. LSU 74; 3. Auburn 80; 4. JSU 108; 5. Samford 125; 6. Kennesaw State 195; 7. Lipscomb 218; 8. Anderson 264; 9. Troy 265; 10. Austin Pay 297; 11. Alabama State 300; 12. Alabama-Huntsville 312; 13. Columbus St. 331; 14. West Georgia 361; 15. Spartanburg Methodist 402; 16. North Florida 416

Individual Results
39. Nathan Haskins 25:48.90
46. Michael Johnson 26:03.05
50. Piotr Witczak 26:09.06
52. Matthew Auers 26:11.15
64. Peikko Solla 26:31.07
78. Steven Murray 26:48.64
95. Matteo DiCecco 27:09.26
96. Maxwell Ndungu 27:11.29
116. Adam Williams 27:46.18
123. Gianni Catalano 28:02.51
151. Brett Luna 29:23.61