TALLAHASSEE (Oct. 2, 2020) – The FIU cross country team opened up its 2020 campaign Friday morning, competing in the Florida State Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

Junior Eliseo Torres led the men to a sixth-place finish with a time of 26:17 to place 14th of 77 in the men's 8K field, while freshman Emilie Christiansen made a strong Panther debut in the women's 5K, finishing in 18:19 to place 10th out of 87. The women also concluded the competition in sixth place as well. 

MEN'S RESULTS
WOMEN'S RESULTS 

"Emilie ran a great race and had a very impressive performance to begin her FIU career," said head distance coach Jermaine Felix. "Three of our top five girls were running their first race and I'm proud of their efforts." 

Torres' time was a 10-second improvement from his performance at FSU last season, and junior Roger Reyes also cracked the top 25. 

"Eli continues to be a leader for the men's squad, and we saw good races from Roger and Andoni as well," said Felix. "We're glad to be back out on the course again." 

For the women, Andrea Loizidou finished 23rd with a time of 18:49, followed by Maria Guerrero at 19:36, Lisa Adjouadi at 19:48, and Daira Deicmane, who rounded out the top five for FIU at 20:12. Emillie Suarez, Delilah Ayan, Daniela Darias, Rahel Gebretsadik, and Leonarda Farkas also competed for the Panthers. 

On the men's side, Reyes completed the course at 26:56, followed by Andoni Mercado at 27:53, Christopher Gomez-Somarriba at 28:01, and Lance Grainger, who placed in the top five for FIU in 42nd overall. Jonathan Pineda also competed in his first race as a Panther. 

UP NEXT 
The women will head to UAB to compete in the Blazer Invitational on Oct. 16, which precedes the Conference USA Championships. 

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