The Daytona State men's cross country team rose to the challenge Friday at the Southern Showcase, hosted by Jacksonville State, the site of the NJCAA National Championships in November.   The men finished 15^th out of 32 teams and were the top junior college team in the field.  Ole Miss took the team title followed by Auburn, Alabama, Kentucky, and Middle Tennessee State.  The Falcons beat NCAA Division I and II teams and five junior colleges.  They were led by sophomore Jared Falchook, running his first race of the season, finishing in a personal best time of 25:27 for the 8000 meter distance.  Second for the Falcons was Jayven Garcia who ran a personal best of 25:49 and was followed closely by freshman Evan Casterline who crossed the line at 25:50.  Rounding out the top five was a pair of freshmen who are improving every week, Joel Jean (26:04) and Isaac Morrison (26:10). "This was the first eight kilometer race for our freshmen who come out of high school running five kilometers.  Sometimes it takes a few races to get the hang of it, but all our freshmen handled it really well, commented Coach Judy Wilson.  The performance of the meet for the Falcons was sophomore Ivan Marin-Padilla who ran over 90 seconds faster than his fastest time from his freshman year and placed sixth for the Falcons.  "Ivan has been training really well and has matured in many ways, as has Brendan Hamilton and Jacob Bormet who also ran personal bests today." Wilson said. 

Check out the results at: https://live.xpresstiming.com/meets/26976 

Up next for the Falcons is the Florida State Invitational on September 29^th in Tallahassee.