LAKELAND, Fla. (September 3, 2022) - The Webber International University men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the 2022 season with the Fire Short Course Invitational hosted by fellow Sun Conference affiliate, Southeastern University, on Saturday morning. The men's team would run a 5K in which the Warriors would finish in fifth place out of seven total teams and the women's team would run a 3K.

The Fire would finish in first place on both the men's and women's sides with six of their runners finishing in the top 11 for the men and seven of their runners finishing in the top nine on the women's side. Ave Maria University would earn second place for both the men's and women's.

Leading the way on the men's side was Wyatt Friend who would finish in 34th place out of a total of 63 runners with a time of 18:58.5. He would be followed close behind by Andrew Rodriguez in 36th place with a time of 19:16.2. The pair of which would be making their Warrior debuts. Carter Reynolds (23:26.6) would cross the finish line in 51st place, followed by Leo Campos Jr. (26:11.7) in 59th place and Cole Gilbreath (27:06.1) in 60th.

For the women, the Warriors would not post a team score but would have three runners individually. Jessica Sanchez (14:30.2) and Vanielis Ramos (15:58.1) would both be making their Warrior debuts as well, finishing in 40th and 45th respectively. Lauren Brown would follow close behind in 47th place with a total time of 16:48.1.

The Warriors next meet will be in two weeks time when they travel to Tallahassee, Florida for the Pre-NAIA Nationals on Saturday, September 17. The meet will be hosted by Thomas University at the Apalachee Regional Park.