Aug. 30, 2008

Photo Gallery

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - After red shirting in 2007, Kennesaw State runner Scott Burley made his return to cross country a successful one on Saturday, August 30, placing second in the 5K to lead the Owls to a first place finish in the Jacksonville Invitational.

"I'm not where I want to be yet," Burley said. "But I was pleased with my performance, and I just have to build on that."

Burley finished the race with a time of 15:46. Piotr Witczak followed close behind, placing third (16:00). Steven Murray was also impressive, placing fifth with a time of 16:06. Maxwell Ndungu took 12th (16:06), followed by Travis Holmes in 18th (17:18), James Verdi in 22nd (17:32), and Daniel Grass in 23rd (17:33).

"It was a great race for Steven, Piotr, and Max in particular," Burley added. "Those guys are only bound to improve throughout the season. Today was just a great team effort."

"Steven, in particular, was a very pleasant surprise," Sims said in agreement with Burley. "We also got great performances from our runners all the way around, but I was especially proud of Steven."

The Owls will be back in action when they travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. to compete in the UT Chattanooga Powerade Invitational, on Friday, September 5.

"Now that we are one race in, we have a little bit better knowledge of the areas we can improve upon," Sims said. "Each meet serves as an evaluation to make our team even stronger."

Men's Team Scores
1. Kennesaw State, 39
2. Jacksonville State, 52
3. West Georgia, 56
4. Morehouse, 69

Individual Ranking
2. Scott Burley- 15:46
3. Piotr Witczak- 16:00
5. Steven Murray-16:06
12. Maxwell Ndungu- 16:37
18. Travis Holmes- 17:18
22. James Verdi- 17:32
23. Daniel Grass- 17:33