Eastern Florida State College Cross Country Teams Make History with First Meet at the EFSC Classic

By Michael Parsons, Eastern Florida State College // September 10, 2022

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Eastern Florida State College hosted its first cross country meet Saturday morning on the Melbourne campus. The Titans made their cross country debut as one of the teams competing in the EFSC Classic which featured eight women’s teams and seven men’s teams. (EFSC image)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – Eastern Florida State College hosted its first cross country meet Saturday morning on the Melbourne campus.

The Titans made their cross country debut as one of the teams competing in the EFSC Classic which featured eight women’s teams and seven men’s teams.

“It was great as far as the level of competition and the teams told me how much they enjoyed it and that it is a nice course,” Eastern Florida State College cross country coach Doug Butler said.

“We were hoping to finish a bit better but it is our first races of the season.”

The men’s teams took to the course for an 8k race that saw the Eastern Florida State College team finish fifth overall and freshman Dayton Law placed eighth overall with a time of 26 mintes, 13 seconds.

“It was great as far as the level of competition and the teams told me how much they enjoyed it and that it is a nice course,” Eastern Florida State College cross country coach Doug Butler said. “We were hoping to finish a bit better but it is our first races of the season.”

Embry-Riddle won both the men and women’s events at the EFSC Classic, topping Florida Southern in both races.

The women’s 5K race started the morning of racing and Embry-Riddle took the top three spots led by Ana Miller who won the race with a time of 18:43.5. Teammate Ariana Anderson was second and Embry-Riddle’s Mackenzie Keller was third.

Eastern Florida State College runner Rachel Starr finished 26th overall with a time of 21:29.9.

“My time isn’t what I wanted it to be but I am happy with how I finished today, it is a nice course,” Starr said.

“It is super cool to be a part of history here at Eastern Florida State College, today was our first meeting and we will improve from here. We have a very supportive team and I am very happy to be a part of this team.”

Click here for more on how EFSC did in the women’s race

The men’s race saw Embry-Riddle’s Paul Kraemer run a 25:37.2 in the 8K to grab first place while teammates Tanner Rosolino was third and Brendon Shea was fourth. Florida Southern’s Owen Allen placed second as the top four runners all finished in under 26 minutes.

“I was very excited for this meet, being at home I knew there would be a lot of support from people that I know and I knew there would be some good schools here competing,” Law said.

“It was a lot faster than I thought it would be, but that gets me excited. It was a good course, it had rained the past couple of days so I was nervous but it was good. It is a good spectator course, every lap I saw people cheering us on.”