LAMPASAS, Texas — St. Edward's men's cross country team entered Friday's Floyd Farms Invitational with a young lineup and a simple objective: work together through the rain, mud and hills while getting its first race of the season under its feet.

The Hilltoppers accomplished both, placing five consecutive runners across the finish line immediately behind Division I Texas to earn a second-place team finish.

Freshman Benjamin Macias led St. Edward's in his collegiate debut, completing the 5K course in 16:55.8 to finish eighth overall. Senior WILLIAM SULENTICH followed in ninth at 16:58.4, giving the Hilltoppers two runners below 17 minutes despite the challenging conditions.

"I think No. 1, it's just a rust-buster—giving a lot of these young kids a chance to compete in college and kind of get their feet wet," head coach Chase Rathke said. "No pun intended out here with the rain going on.
"The course conditions were definitely tough. You had mud all throughout and whatnot, but they competed. It was a great meet to get them settled in."

Freshman ANTHONY GONZALEZ finished 10th in his first collegiate race, crossing in 17:16.3. Sophomore Javier Ramirez placed 11th at 17:26.6, and freshman CALEB KYBURZ completed the scoring five in 12th with a time of 17:31.5.

Only 35.7 seconds separated St. Edward's first and fifth finishers. The Hilltoppers scored 50 points to place second behind Texas, which swept the first seven individual positions and won with 15 points. St. Edward's finished ahead of Angelo State and Concordia Texas, which scored 93 and 94 points, respectively. Official results

"I thought they worked really well together," Rathke said. "You had UT packed up right at the front, and then after that, we were right there. That was kind of our goal. I would've liked to see us maybe a little bit closer in terms of the overall pack time, but I thought they did really, really well and competed."

Junior PARKER STEVENS added a 16th-place finish in 18:03.1. Freshman ADRIAN HERNANDEZ followed in 19th at 18:25.2, while JOE IBARRA completed his collegiate debut in 18:32.5 to place 21st.

The performance provided an encouraging first measurement for a roster blending veterans with a large freshman class. Three newcomers contributed to the scoring five, while Sulentich and Ramirez helped hold the group together on a course where placement and composure mattered more than times.

"I didn't even care if they made up a few seconds here and there," Rathke said. "It was all about getting our feet under us today and having that race. It was a really tough course, and the conditions weren't the greatest, but overall, getting the work in and getting a race under our belt was really awesome."

St. Edward's returns to competition Sept. 11 at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station.