The Emory men's and women's cross country teams returned to the course Friday morning, competing in the KSU Stan Sims Opener against three Division I programs.

Newcomer Luna Gutierrez and junior Carsen Valenta were the top Eagles as Gutierrez took 13^th in the 5k with a time of 18:42.3 and Valenta took 21^st in the men's four-mile race with a time of 21:16.9.

On the women's side, three freshmen joined their classmate in the top 30 as Amelia Stratton, Lexi Wilson and Isabella Schott each ran times under the 19:50 mark in their Emory debut. Their classmates Mackenzie Spooner and Anya Budzinski came in right behind them, putting up times of 19:53 and 20:01.2 respectively to take 31^st and 32^nd place. Another pair of freshmen Eagles joined Spooner and Budzinski at the 20-minute mark as Abby Weinstein and Bennie Bonadeis each came in at 20:06.3 and 20:47.3. Rounding it out for the women's team was Adeline Edwards, Julia Ronnen and Arden Gray as they all came in after 21 minutes.

The men's side saw freshman Alex Jones come in three seconds after Valenta, finishing at 21:19.3. Fellow freshman Braeden Jackelow and sophomore Amos Pres followed Jones, coming in after 21:20 to land in the top 25. Newcomer Ayaan Surani and senior Jacob Zalis also landed in the top 30 as they raced a 21:48.8 and 22:10.3 respectively while sophomore Korben Lewis came in at 22:18.8 to take 32^nd. Kirin Karver, Charlie Rich and Logan Clark joined Zalis and Lewis as they all came in after the 22:20 mark while sophomore Jack Muhlhauser wrapped things up for the Eagles with a time of 23:01.9.

The Eagles will be back on the course in two weeks as they head to Spartanburg, SC for the Converse Kick-Off.