KENNESAW, Ga. – KSU junior Piotr Witczak finished in fifth place at the PowerAde Invitational at Moccasin Bend Race Course in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Friday night, and the Owls used four other top-20 performances to garner a third place finish at the 5k meet hosted by University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.

The meet, which featured four other teams, including Atlantic Sun rival Mercer, was the second of the season for the Owl men, and the 16:07 performance for Witczak assured him of a second straight top-ten finish. Sophomore Jaakko Nieminen was the other Owl to finish in the top ten, running the course in 16:15.

Head coach Stan Sims thought that this meet, which KSU was running without Scott Burley and Nathan Haskins, was a good way of reminding his runners that success doesn’t come easy, regardless of talent.

“This was a good indicator of where we are at this point in the season. Not all of our runners are where they need to be yet, but they know that,” Sims said. “Piotr, you never have to worry about him. As usual, he gave us his best effort and overall I was very pleased with the way he performed.”

A bulk of runners were bunched together at the front of the pack around the one-mile mark, making race strategy ever so important from that point forward. Witczak could tell that that meant a challenging race was in store.

“The pace was really fast, and I picked up the pace a little quicker than maybe I should have,” said Witczak, who improved from a 13th place finish at this meet in 2008. “It’s about running smart, and if I can improve on that aspect, I think it will help my overall performance.”

Stepping up in the absence of Burley and Haskins were freshmen Ryan Burruss and Nabil Hamid. The duo finished 13th and 17th, respectively, and gave the Owls confidence that they would be able to perform even better as the season progressed.

“It’s always good to see freshmen step up and run well, especially this early,” associate head coach Don McGarey said. “It gives them confidence that they can perform at this level, and it gives us confidence in them.”

Middle Tennessee State finished in first place overall, placing three runners in the top ten.

The Owls move on to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, next Friday, to compete in the Crimson Classic, hosted by the University of Alabama. The 8k meet will also serve as the NCAA South Region preview, and will begin at 5:30 p.m. Central Time.

Individual Results:

5) Piotr Witczak- 16:07

7) Jaakko Nieminen- 16:15

11) Nabil Hamid- 16:18

15) Ryan Burruss- 16:36

17) Matt Auers- 16:45

19) Peikko Solla- 16:50

22) Mike Johnson- 16:57

30) Daniel Grass- 17:32

33) Gianni Catalano- 17:52

35) Andrew Greeson- 18:16

39) Alex Hay- 18:48

40) Mike Guntner- 19:03

42) Robert Thornton- 19:44

Team Results:

1) Middle Tennessee State- 28

2) UTC- 48

3) Kennesaw State- 55

4) Mercer- 81

5) Tennessee State- 149