Austin Steagall finished fourth out of 113 runners and nationally 11th-ranked University of Mount Olive finished first out of 10 non-Division I teams in the Furman University Men's Cross Country Invitational Saturday at Greenville, S.C. Steagall was among six Trojans to finish in the top 15, including three Trojans in the top 10. The meet was Mount Olive's season opener.
Steagall beat his personal best and posted the fourth fastest time in school history in the 8k with a time of 24:52.80. Akiharu Kitagawa finished sixth with a time of 25:12.01 and Jonathan Dahlke was ninth with a time of 25:41.38. Eugini Gil (25:56.67) finished 11th, Pol Domenech-Ferrer (26:06.49) was 14th and Fredric Lang (26:07.01) placed 15th.
Mount Olive compiled 30 points to finish 29 points ahead of second-place Mars Hill. The Trojans were among five Conference Carolinas teams in the meet, joining third-place King, seventh-place Limestone, eighth-place North Greenville and 10th-place Erskine.
Mount Olive is idle until October 4 when the Trojans travel to Louisville, Ky., to compete in the Louisville Classic. Louisville is the site of the 2014 NCAA Division II Men's Cross Country National Championship. Three of Mount Olive's four regular season meets take place in October.