The Emory cross country teams continued their fall seasons on Friday morning, competing in the Georgia Tech XC Invitational. In a field comprised primarily of NCAA Division I and II opponents, the Eagles finished fourth out of 16 teams on the men's side with a score of 104 while the women finished fifth out of 23 teams with a score of 164.
 
Embry-Riddle took first in the men's race, posting a score of 37 while Florida State won the women's race with a score of 34. Seven Eagles finished inside of the top 40 for the men. Meanwhile, eight Eagles finished in the top half of all runners on the women's side. The event was held at Bouckaert Farm in Fairburn, Georgia.
 
The men's got things started at the 8k distance with a pair of sophomores leading the charge. Nicholas Krol was the top finisher for the Eagles, clocking in at 26:07.06 to finish in 18^th place in a field of 153 runners. The sophomore's time was a new personal-best, topping his previous time by more than five seconds. His classmate John Urciuoli was next, posting a time of 26:30.26 and placing 23^rd.
 
A trio of upperclassmen came in close behind their sophomore counterparts, with juniors Nikhil Makker and Matthew McClure and senior Marcus Cheema being the next three Eagles to cross the checkered tape. Makker clocked in at 26:41.77 coming in 28^th, McClure was right behind in 30^th with a time of 26:43.33, and Cheema next in 32^nd with a time of 26:50.52.
 
Sophomore Hiromu Sakuma also finished in the top-40, coming in 35^th with a time of 26:53.87. Freshman Parker Carrus rounded out the group of Eagles finishing in the top-40, coming in with a time of 27:02.19 in 40^th place.
 
Also competing for the Eagles was senior Turner Goetsch who came in 45^th with a time of 27:09.51, sophomore Ezra Shilling Rabin who came in 49^th with a time of 27:17.28, senior Justin Whitney who came in 65^th with a time of 27:51.88, and senior Ben Zamler who came in 78^th with a time of 28:43.24.
 
On the women's side, racing at the 6k distance for the first time this season, it was sophomore Cameron Gupta who crossed first, clocking in at 22:49.54 and in 14^th place out of 191 competitors. Freshman Arden Gray had an impressive performance in her first 6k race, posting a time of 23:25.27 and placing 34^th. Coming in just five seconds later was senior Jenna Daly, posting a time of 23:30.34 in 35^th place. Another freshman, Avery McAdams, posted a solid time, coming in 43^rd with a time of 23:50.41. Rounding out the scoring for Emory was junior Karsten Bobb, coming in 58^th with a time of 24:23.33.
 
Also competing on the women's side was sophomore Payton Fleming who came in 69^th with a time of 24:41.73, sophomore Elise Picard who came in 74^th with a time of 24:49.17, sophomore Morgan Cox who came in 92^nd with a time of 25:24.71, freshman Ryleigh O'Donnell who came in 105^th with a time of 26:05. 78.
 
The Eagles will race again tomorrow with others having made the trip north to take part in the highly competitive Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The meet will start with the men's race at 1:45 PM with the women's race to follow at 2:30 PM.