ELON, N.C. — The men's cross country team of High Point University went to Elon, N.C. Friday night, and took home the win to open up the season. The Panthers saw four runners place in the top 10 and three within the top five.

"Well, the idea is to win, right? So that's what we want to do," Head Coach Mike Esposito stated. "These guys have to learn how to win as a team. Just like any other sport and people don't realize that. Our women know how and they've demonstrated that. I think it was very important to win to me. I thought that we were solid. I thought we could have grouped up better because that's a point of emphasis. You know, we came through it healthy. It's an excellent group and we've got a lot of work to do. We faded a little bit but I feel real good where we're at."

High Point finished with three top five runners in the 6k as Avery Crowell took third with a time of 18:32.9, Gavin Stevens placed fourth at 18:37.1, and Jake Fiorillo finished fifth clocking in at 18:40.2. Three freshmen followed, with Max Bonilla finishing in seventh place with an 18:43.3 time. Brendan Cook in 14th with a final time of 18:48.4 and Simon Triezenberg in 16th at 18:54.5. 

Crowell's sub-19-minute time is a career-best and highest place for the junior in the 6k. It was also a career-night for Stevens as he clocked his fastest time and had the highest placement in his career. Stevens' time was almost 40 seconds faster than his previous best. Fiorilllo almost topped is personal best by a full minute.

Despite running while being sick Mills still finished 34th out of 90-plus runners. In total, High Point had nine runners place 25th or better.

The Panthers dominated the entire race, as Crowell and Stevens were neck and neck. It is a positive sign of motivation for the Panthers to redeem how the 2024 season culminated.

UP NEXT: The Panthers head to Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, September 19th for the Adidas XC Challenge hosted by N.C. State University.