FARMVILLE, Va. — The High Point University men's cross country team won the Lancer Pink Invitation Saturday morning, with Avery Crowell finishing first overall in the entire meet. This is the second straight top finish for HPU.

The Panthers had four top-five finishers and six in the top 10. Crowell led the way with a first-place time of 25:42.6, his first top finish in his collegiate career. Gavin Stevens followed him up with a third-place finish, recording a 25:55.0 time for his highest collegiate placement in the 8k. 

Despite the win and the places where runners finished, Head Coach Mike Esposito knows his team has more in the tank.

"Today we missed an opportunity to group up and move together. Avery ran a solid race to win but should have had five or six of his teammates for company. We need to race collectively as we train, instead of racing selfishly. [We] will continue to train at a high level and focus on staying available through good living habits," Esposito said. 

Freshmen Simon Triezenberg placed fourth and Max Bonilla placed fifth with times of 25:57.8 and 26:13.8, respectively. 

Sophomore Ari Snyder finished sixth (26:26.5) and Kyle Spencer made it into the top 10 with a sub-27-minute time. Both were also the runner's top finishes.

Alex Contreras, making his season debut after a tryout, narrowly missed a top-10 finish with a time of 26:57.9. 

Senior Jake Fiorillo cracked the top 15 with a 27:06.0 finish, while Evan Mills and Blake Nicholson finished 19th and 20th (27:11.3 and 27:15.5). 

Freshman Brendan Cook clocked in with a 27:49.2 time and Evan Mills ran a 27:11.3. Both times placed the runners in the top-25. Clark LaLomia finished with a time of 28:16.1 and placed 29th.

Overall, the Panthers had 11 individual runners place inside the top 25. Having freshmen and juniors place within the top five of a collegiate meet goes to show the depth the High Point cross country team has this season as the Panthers look to win the Big South Conference.

This is a great showing for the Panthers early on in the season as the meet included conference rivals Radford and Longwood.