TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Tech men's cross-country team faced heavy competition at the FSU XC Invite 8K on Friday morning at Apalachee Regional Park, finishing in 13th place in a 35-team field that included 13 Division I schools. The Panthers finished ahead of USF, FAU, Bethune-Cookman, FIU, Jacksonville, and Alabama State.

Overall, Tech had three runners finish in the Top 100 in a field of 317 runners. Their team's point total of 425 had them less than 50 points shy of the top 10. Noah Heal was the first Panther across the finish line for the third consecutive meet with his time of 25:55.70, good for 46th place, as well as an improvement of over one minute from the Embry-Riddle Invite 8K. Identical to his last time on the course in Daytona Beach, Ben Peck was the next Crimson and Gray runner to the line, taking 58th place with a time of 26:10.50, which was an over one-minute improvement from the last race.

Thomas Carpenter's time of 26:47.20 earned him a finish in the top 100 at 96th place and also shaved over a minute off of his previous 8K time. Another Panther who cut his time from two weeks ago was Rhett Turner, who grabbed 141st with a time of 27:32.50. While respectively. Tyler Herrera rounded out the Tech top 5 with a 27:46.00 finish that earned him 158th.

For the second consecutive meet, 11 Panthers completed the 8K in 30 minutes or less, and 11 improved on their 8K time from the Embry-Riddle Invite

Men's Top Finishers (Place)
1. Noah Heal – 25:55.70 (46th)
2. Ben Peck – 26:10.50 (58th)
3. Thomas Carpenter – 26:47.20 (96th)
4. Rhett Turner – 27:32.50 (141st)
5. Tyler Herrera – 27:46.00 (158th)
6. Jake Greene – 28:07.30 (178th)
7. Jack Schule – 28:15.80 (191st)
8. Ethan Mudur – 28:36.60 (219th)
9. Dominic Longobardi – 28:47.40 (225th)
10. Brycen Haner – 30:43.70 (288th)
11. Alvaro Cameo – 30:56.60 (291st)
12. Yash Malik – 31:31.30 (299th)
13. Michael Sean Cowles – 32:12.60 (303rd)

NEXT UP: The Panthers will be off next week before returning to the course in Huntsville, Alabama for the UAH Chargers Invite on Saturday, October 11, starting at 8:00 A.M. ET.

For the latest news, updates, and information on the Florida Tech men's cross country team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.