ORLANDO, Fla. - The Kennesaw State Owls men’s cross country team went to Disney World and will return from the Sunshine State as champions of the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic, finishing first in a field of 25 teams with a score of 42 points. Five of Stan Sims’ runners placed in the top-20 en-route to the third victory of the season for the Owls in five races.

Leading the way for Kennesaw State on an unseasonably warm day was senior Scott Burley, whose time of 25:52 in the 8k race netted him a second place finish. Freshman Nabil Hamid was right behind him, logging a 26:04 time, good for third place.

“I always knew that our runners were Mickey Mouse runners, and of course here in Disney, that’s a very positive thing,” Sims joked. “In all seriousness, getting a performance like that from Scott is a huge psychological boost for everyone. On top of that, Nabil did today exactly what we all knew he came here to do, and that was to compete with the best of them. This was a great performance for all of our guys, and they should feel good about themselves.”

The senior-freshman tandem of Burley and Hamid were two of four Owls to go home with either a medal or trophy, as hardware was awarded to the top-15 finishers in the race. Both runners got off to a quick start, establishing themselves in the top-5 within the first mile, and were able to maintain that pace throughout the race. Burley was proud of the way he performed, and thought this was a great indicator of where the team is at this point in the season.

“This is great for the squad, to get a win like this, especially since this felt like a dress rehearsal for the [Atlantic Sun Championship], ” said Burley, who finished seventh here in 2008. “I felt really good today. It was nice to run with Nabil, we really worked well together the whole way through. It’s great to be able to go home with a Mickey Mouse trophy.”

Sophomore Jaakko Nieminen (12th) and juniors Piotr Witczak (14th) and Peikko Solla (16th) rounded out the solid scoring for the Owls, who finished fourth at this race last year.

Next up for the Owls will be the first annual KSU Owl Invitational, which will take place on Friday, October 23rd, at Noonday Park in Kennesaw. After that comes the A-Sun Championship in De Land, Fla., where all the hard work and competition will culminate.

Individual Results

2. Scott Burley- 25:52.40

3. Nabil Hamid- 26:04.80

12. Jaakko Nieminen- 26:35.00

14. Piotr Witczak- 26:39.60

16. Peikko Solla- 26:57.40

32. Matthew Auers- 27:33.70

35. Ryan Burruss- 27:39.00

41. Michael Johnson- 27:51.40

Team Results

1 Kennesaw State 42 pts

2 Florida Southern 98 pts

3 Florida Atlantic 129 pts

4 Nova Southeastern 145 pts

5 Mercer 152 pts

6 Florida Int'l 168 pts

7 Florida Tech 179 pts

8 USC- Beaufort 247 pts

9 Milligan 251 pts

10 Miami (Fla.) 275 pts

11 Winston-Salem St. 276 pts

12 C.W. Post 285 pts

13 IPFW 349 pts

14 Anderson (S.C.) 361 pts

15 Wingate 393 pts

16 Texas A&M-Int'L 412 pts

17 Flagler 458 pts

18 Webber 460 pts

19 N.C. Central 566 pts

20 Warner Southern 578 pts

21 Florida College 578 pts

22 Methodist 663 pts

23 Saint Leo 667 pts

24 PB Atlantic 707 pts

25 Paine 771 pts