Men's Cross Country | October 08, 2024

AIKEN, S.C. – The USCA men's cross country team returns to action Saturday at the Sand Shark Invitational.

The event is hosted by USC Beaufort and it marks the first race for the Pacers since the Queens City Invite on Sept. 13.

In head coach Marshall Leonard's team's last race, Luis Cruzado smashed the 8k school record by over 40 seconds. His performance allowed him to claim his second consecutive PBC Runner of the Week honor.

Evan McLeod is coming off a personal-best mark (28:13.32) for an 8k event. Zachary Haase, Jacobo Garcia-Rivera and Julio Rojas were the top five competitors at the Queens City Invite.

"We are excited to get back to racing, as we've had more time off than we originally wanted," Leonard stated. "The team has been working hard and have used this time to recover from nagging injuries. We are looking to be aggressive and fight hard at the meet."

Teams at the meet include USCA, Albany State, Bethune-Cookman, Claflin, Columbia International, Converse, Edward Waters, Erskine, Fort Valley State, Georgia Southern, Lander, Mount Olive, Newberry, Northeastern Tech, Oxford College, South Carolina State, SCAD, St. Augustine's, USC Beaufort, Voorhees and Winthrop.

This marks the first time the program has competed at the Sand Shark Invitational since a seventh-place effort on Oct. 17, 2020.