Akiharu Kitagawa finished second out of 130 runners and University of Mount Olive's top five finishers all placed in the top 20 as the nationally 10th-ranked Trojans captured the men's cross country team title at the Montevallo Falcon Classic Saturday at Montevallo, Ala. Ktagawa was among three Trojan runners to finish in the top 10.
Kitagawa posted a time of 25:56.90 in the 8k race, finishing only nine seconds out of first place. Euginio Gil was seventh with a time of 26:36.90 and Austin Steagall finished 10th with a time of 26:52.70. Jonathan Dahlke (26:59.80) was 12th and Mike Munoz (27:16.00) tied for 19th.
The Trojans compiled a total of 50 points to finish 35 points ahead of second-place Mars Hill. Mount Olive was one of three Conference Carolinas teams participating in the meet.
Montevallo will be the host for the 2014 NCAA Division II Cross Country Southeast Regional in November.
Mount Olive concludes its regular season schedule next weekend as the Trojans travel to Wingate, N.C., Saturday to compete in the Wingate University Invitational.