Georgia State finished a strong second to the Florida Gators in the eight-team Western Carolina Invitational Friday night in Cullowhee, N.C.

Perennial power Florida won this meet for a fourth consecutive year, but GSU had not run this event in several years. Florida finished 1-2-3-5-7 and Georgia State earned 4-6-9-11-16 finishes as the two teams dominated the 63-runner field. This race was a two-mile event.

"This was a strong team showing with a balance of our veterans and newcomers showing this season has promise," fifth-year head coach Chris England said. "Hannah Stefanoff paced the team with a fourth-place finish as our two senior vets were impressive and three newcomers stepped up."

Senior transfer Stella Christoforou finished sixth and senior GSU vet Niamh Kearney also finished in the top 10 with a ninth-place showing. Freshman newcomer Nuria Ramirez was 11th in her first collegiate race and fellow freshman Jordan Townsley was 16th. 

"The success tonight makes us want to keep working and be ready for next week's meet at Chattanooga to see how we can do against a team that beat us last year," coach noted.

The event was held on the course on the campus of Western Carolina in the mountains at 2,000-feet elevation on an 80-degree evening.

Final TEAM Scores

1. Florida     18

2. Georgia State  46

3. UNC Asheville  89

4. Western Carolina  109

5. Wofford   147

6. N.C. A&T  178

7. Gardner Webb  190

8. Piedmont  229

GEORGIA STATE Results (63 runners)

4. Hannah Stefanoff  11:20.52

6. Stella Christoforou  11:39.91

9. Niamh Kearney  11:56.77

11. Nuria Ramirez  12:01.38

16. Jordan Townsley 12:17.55

23. Mackenzie Nail  12:31.50

29. Sarah Bearden  12:50.81

47. Carino Nieto  13:34.24

49. Melanie Hamilt  13:45.58