The Valdosta State men’s cross country team got the 2018 season off to a strong start Friday evening, hosting the Border Clash at Freedom Park. VSU finished third with 80 points as senior Jaison Morning finished eighth among 69 runners to pace the team.

The race was moved to a 7.25K this year as Tampa took home top honors with 27 points, including tournament champion Trevor Kattenberg with a time of 23:50.1, followed by teammate Tyler Roberts at 23:55.3. Georgia College’s Brennan Silliman finished third at 23:58.0, followed by Tampa’s Joe Weber at 24:07.9. Flagler’s Crisman Jones finished fifth at 24:15.6.

Tampa finished with six runners in the top 14, while Morning recorded a 24:40.0 time to lead the Blazers. Teammate freshman Brishen House finished 12th (24:49.6) and freshman David Gunn was 16th at 25:14.3. VSU freshman Kevin Favard finished 19th at 25:20.5 as four Blazers finished in the top 20.

VSU freshman Gabriel McNett finished 28th at 25:50.5, while junior Chance Roe was 38th (26:27.1), followed by senior Michael Perona at 26:53.0. Junior Caleb Watson finished 45th at 27:23.5 and sophomore Daniel Swilley was 53rdat 28:23.7.

VSU women finish fifth at Border Clash The Valdosta State women’s cross country team finished fifth at the 2018 Border Clash at Freedom Park to open the season Friday evening. Freshman Kailey Brough was the top finisher for the Blazers with a 21:43.0 time finishing 27th.

Tampa won the women’s field of seven teams with 21 points and the top two finishers in Zoe Jarvis and Shannon Sweeney. Jarvis tallied a time of 18:47.0 in the 5K. Tampa had six of the top-eight finishers, while Flagler, who finished second with 46 points, had the third- and fourth-place finishers.

Georgia College finished third with 77 points, followed by Tallahassee Community College (129) and the Blazers rounded out the top five with 142 points. Albany State was sixth with 152 points and Georgia Southwestern was seventh with 188 points.

Following Brough, VSU sophomore Oliva Rosener was 34th with a time of 22:06.7, followed by sophomore Angela Cipriana at 22:23.1 for 39th. Freshman Samantha Murray was 42nd at 22:39.9, followed by freshman Page Makenzee at 22:34.2 for 43rd. Junior Jamie Ford was 49th at 23:46.7 and freshman Kayle Smith was 52nd at 24:18.7. Sophomore Amanda Allred was 56th at 24:56.6 and freshman Kali Carter was 59th with a time of 26:00.1.

The Blazers return to action at the Mountain Dew Invitational, Sept. 22 in Gainsville, Fla., hosted by the University of Florida.