LAKELAND, FL – The Daytona State Men's and Women's Cross Country teams traveled to the Holloway Park XC Preseason Festival for the first race of the season. The men's team finished in 3rd place, only 7 points out of 2^nd.  With four runners in the top 20 of their division, the team has a great outlook for the season.  "Only one guy out of the six we ran today has experience running the 8000 meter distance.  This was a new experience for a lot of them coming out of high school having run the 5000-meter distance.  With each race, they will gain experience and learn how to handle the distance", said Coach Wilson after the race.  

Freshman Andrew Guillory, former Mainland high school standout, was the first runner across the line for the Falcons in 6th place with a new school record of 29:40 for 8k. Guillory stated, "It's a pretty cool accomplishment for me, but I don't look to be treated any different than before. We have a long season ahead of us. There are more achievements to come; I'm happy but not satisfied."

The Falcons followed up Guillory's performance with the next three runners finishing in the top 20 with freshman Jesse Barrel, former Apopka High School runner, in 13th place with a 30:32, sophomore Tyler Simmons (Spruce Creek High School) in16th place 30:53 , David Phillips, of Lake Nona High School, with a 31:03 for 17th place and Freshman Devin Boyle (Lake Mary High School) rounding out the top 5 scoring runners in 22nd place with a 32:33 . Brain Rerko (Spruce Creek HS) ran his first ever 8k in his first year running cross-country in 34:35 for 37th place.

Next up for the squad is the University of North Florida Invite this Friday, Sep 7^th, at 6pm at the UNF Golf Complex, 1 UNF Drive, Jacksonville.