GAINESVILLE – The Flagler College men’s cross country team finished in second place, out of the 13 non-Division I entrants, at the 8K Mountain Dew Invitational Sept. 22 at the University of Florida’s Mark Bostick Golf Course.

Flagler College was led by freshman Evan Fuller, a Fleming Island High School graduate and two-time Class 4A cross country championship race finisher.

“I wanted to break 26 minutes and also beat a University of Florida runner,” said Fuller, who was lightly recruited by both Florida and Florida State during his senior season. “I felt good at the prospect of running this course which has a lot of hills. I’m pretty good at running downhill.”

Flagler tallied 185 points and was led by Evan Fuller who finished in 28th place, overall, with a season-best time of 25:46.4 for the five mile trek, earning 26 points. Fuller finished fifth in the Non-Division I scoring (Flagler is NCAA Division II) behind four Embry-Riddle runners.

Flagler’s cumulative time of 2:11.07.32 would have place the Saints fifth in the NCAA Division I scoring with Florida A&M taking that title with a 2:02:50.59 team time with the Rattlers scoring the top finisher; David Too, a junior, in 24:11.58, followed by four teammates in the top 10 overall finishers.

Fuller’s Flagler teammate Anthony Colasanti was not far behind Fuller, crossing the finish line at 25:53.8, a personal record time, to finish in 33rd place. High schoolers run a 5K (3.1 mile) course in about 15-16 minutes. Fuller had run 27:52.0 last week for the Embry Riddle Invitational. Fuller finished ahead of four University of Florida runners.

“I was keeping an eye up front and staying within my ability to catch up to Anthony by taking advantage of the downhills,” said Fuller, who has two previous finishes as the third Flagler runner in two earlier meets. “I just went in the last mile. I’m feeling better in the five mile courses.”

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Fla.) was the top non-Division I team with 102 points.

Florida A&M University was the overall team champion with 26 points. Tennessee Tech finished second with 48 points. Florida, the host school, finished third with 67 points.

David Too of Florida A&M University led the 182-man field with a time of 24:11.6. Kipkirui of Tennessee Tech followed with a time of 24:27.8.

“Evan is a smart, intellectual runner,” said Flagler coach Brian Beil, who has used the Clay County connections for past seasons with Clay High’s Corey Mundy, Fleming Island High’s Erik Hartley (now an assistant coach at Flagler) and Ridgeview High’s Andrew Smith most recently adding their names to the Flagler cross country and track record books with the trio owning times in the top five of Flagler history. Mundy, a four-time all conference choice (2011-2014), won a Peach Belt Conference title with the top time of 24:29 set in 2013. Smith and Hartley ran on the 2016 Peach Belt Conference championship team with Beil being named coach of the year.

“I think we will have a good shot at a conference title (won title in 2016) and even get to the NCAA Division II race if everyone progresses as planned,” said Beil.

The top non-Division I finisher was Ryan Szklany of Embry-Riddle. He finished ninth overall with a time of 24:51.6.

Also for Flagler, Connor Norton finished in 44th place with a season-best time of 26:20.4.

Trenton Liberty posted a time of 26:23.0 and finished in 48th place. Justin Greene rounded out the point scorers for the Saints after he finished in 62nd place with a season-best time of 26:43.9. Crisman Jones (26:48.6), Hunter Ingle (27:57.7), and Anthony Whelan (28:08.5) finished as well for Flagler.

Flagler heads to Charlotte, North Carolina to run in the Royals Challenge on Oct. 12.

Non-D1 team results: 1) Embry-Riddle 102; 2) Flagler 185; 3) Saint Leo 221; 4) Lynn 224; 5) West Florida 313; 6) Valdosta State 331; 7) Palm Beach Atlantic 351; 8) Nova Southeastern 353; 9) Florida Tech 362; 10) Southeastern (Fla.) 517; 11) Florida College 532; 12) Brewton-Parker 615; Florida State College-Jax 664.

Top 10 finishers (non-D1): 1) Ryan Szklany (ERAU) 24:51.6; 2) Calahan Warren (ERAU) 25:26.2; 3) Lelei Too (ERAU) 25:29.6; 4) Paul McKenna (ERAU) 25:43.5; 5) Evan Fuller (FLG) 25:46.4; 6) Hillary Kandie (SCC) 25:53.3; 7) Yassin Raffay (SCC) 25:53.6; 8) Anthony Colasanti (ERAU) 25:53.8; 9) Paris Williams (ERAU) 26:06.4; 10) Nathan Kowalski (LU) 26:09.2.

Flagler members (overall): 28) Fuller 25:46.4; 33) Colasanti 25:53.8; 44) Norton 26:20.4; 48) Liberty 26:23.0; 62) Greene 26:43.9; 65) Jones 26:48.6; 106) Ingle 27:57.7; 116) Whelan 28:08.5.