FARMVILLE, Va., — The High Point University men's cross country team finished in second place in the Big South Conference championship race. The Panthers fall just short of Charleston Southern in what is Head Coach Mike Esposito's final conference meet with the Panthers.

Head Coach Mike Esposito: "We now, unfortunately, probably have the record for most second-place finishes in one sport. Disappointed for the kids, but hats off to Charleston Southern. We engaged well early and through the middle of the race, but let it get away from us. Gavin [Stevens] and Avery [Crowell] competed well for the win, just didn't have that last gear. Max [Bonilla], Simon [Triezenberg], and Ari [Snyder] ran well, but needed to be great for us to win. The good news is that our top eight are all underclassmen and will learn from this moving forward. Our two seniors, Evan [Mills] and Jake [Fiorillo], did not perform as they would like to, but they have both been amazing contributors to our program. With this being my last cross-country season at High Point, I can't think of a better group of young people to finish with. Now we move on to regionals, where we will look to continue to improve and grow as a team. Definitely want to give a shout-out to our girls and Coach Tamer. What a dominant performance. Remy is one of the best young coaches in our sport. As I have said over and over, I am blessed to work with the best coaching staff in America. They, along with an amazing group of young people, [are] the reasons we have been so successful. I would also like to thank Mr. Hauser, Drew Sanchez, and our sports information staff for their support today and throughout the year. Kudos to our parents as well. We always have the biggest contingent wherever we go to. Now, as my father would say, 'there's work to be done and it isn't going to get done by looking at it."

Juniors Avery Crowell and Gavin Stevens were the Panthers' leaders Friday morning. Crowell finished in fourth place with a 25:02.3 time. While Stevens was right behind him, placing fifth and a time of 25:04.2. Both juniors were named first-team all-conference runners. 

Coming in 10th overall was Max Bonilla, who was named Freshman of the Year - the Panthers' first since 2018 - clocked in a time of 25:22.4. Ari Snyder came in 12th-place (25:29.3), and Simon Triezenberg ran to a 14th-place finish (25:35.7). Bonilla, Snyder, and Triezenberg were named to the conference's second-team.  

Freshman Blake Nicholson was right behind Triezenberg. Nicholson placed 15th overall with a 25:39.7 finish. In 37th place was Alex Contreras (26:38.1), and in 39th was Kyle Spencer (26:46.9). 

Seniors Evan Mills (49th) and Jake Fiorillo (54th) clocked in times of 27:23.8 and 27:43.1, respectively. 
 

Final Team Results:

1 – Charleston Southern (21)

2 – High Point (45)

3 – UNC Asheville (87)

4 – USC Upstate (115)

5 – Radford (126)

6 – Longwood (155)

7 – Winthrop (215)

8 – Presbyterian (234)

9 – Gardner-Webb (265)

Freshman of the Year

Max Bonilla, High Point
 

All-Conference (Top 14 Finishers)

First-Team

Caleb Kenyon, Charleston Southern

Hayden Goode, Charleston Southern

Micah Gilpatric, Charleston Southern

Avery Crowell, High Point

Gavin Stevens, High Point

Charlie Dance, Radford

Martin Iriondo, Charleston Southern

Second-Team

Zach Mickler, Charleston Southern

Jan Malek, UNC Asheville

Max Bonilla, High Point

Sam Shimanskiy, USC Upstate

Ari Snyder, High Point

Griffin Gillespie, Charleston Southern

Simon Treizenberg, High Point

All-Academic Team

Caleb Kenyon, Charleston Southern, Sr.

Michael Fletcher, Gardner-Webb, Soph.

Gavin Stevens, High Point, Jr.

Clinton Clancy, Longwood, Jr.

Noah Kaufman, Presbyterian, Jr.

Hayat Khan, Radford, Sr.

Quinn Jacquez, UNC Asheville, Sr.

Sam Shimanskiy, USC Upstate, Gr.

Jason Krell, Winthrop, Gr.

Up Next: The Panthers will run next in the NCAA Southeast Regionals on Nov. 14 at 11:00 a.m.