Senior Caitlyn Epps (Cookeville, Tenn.) continued to build on her stellar cross country season as the Lady Buccaneer runner set a personal best Friday evening at the Charlotte Invitational from McAlpine Park.Epps, who has now guided the ETSU women’s cross country team across the finish line in each of the first three meets this season, finished 44th overall (out of 248 runners) against strong competition. The field, which consisted of teams from the ACC, SEC, and Atlantic 10, saw Epps knock 35 seconds off her previous best after clocking in at 18:38.

In addition to Epps, freshman Kayla Kuziola (Johnson City, Tenn.) also shaved time off her personal best after recording a mark of 20:08 in the 5000m race. The Johnson City, Tenn. native’s time was 58 seconds faster than what she raced two weeks ago at the Mountaineer Open.

Meanwhile, on the men’s side, senior Manny Gonzalez (Bryan, Tenn.) led the charge for the Bucs in his 2010 debut. Gonzalez finished the 8000m race in 26:31 and placed 59th overall (out of 206 runners).

Joining Gonzalez was senior Ben Ronoh (Sotik, Kenya) and freshman Desmond Pierce (Morristown, Tenn.) – who finished in 62nd and 63rd, respectively.

The Buccaneer cross country team returns to action Saturday, Oct. 9 when ETSU competes in the Samford Invite.

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