Reinhardt University's cross country teams had a phenomenal start to the 2013 season, with the men's squad winning the North Georgia Technical College Invitational and the women's team placing second in the same meet Friday evening.

"I couldn't be happier for both teams," said RU head coach Jordan Turner. "This is a testament to the work they have put in these last couple of weeks. I challenged them to make a statement and go after victories, and they have responded."

Five men's cross country runners placed in the top 10 to lead the Eagles to a team score of 19 for the meet. Alex Garcia (30:16) finished second, with Roger Herrera (30:54) crossing the line third. Ryan Osborn (34:15) was seventh, followed by Brent Blackwell (34:21 - 8th), and Zachary Taylor (34:52 - 10th). Also posting times for the Eagles were Ethan Alexander (34:54), Rafael Salazar-Cruz (34:58), Daniel Guerrero (35:00), Hamp Reynolds (35:12), and Brad Cook (45:00).

On the women's side, Jazzmine Gonzalez's time of 24:21 was good for second-place overall at the meet as she helped the Lady Eagles to a second-place finish with 49 points. Kristen DeBrock was 12th (27:38), Salena Calhoun was 13th (27:58), Kelsey Dawson (28:09) placed 17th, and Alesa Constein (28:26) was 19th to account for RU's team score. Also running for the Lady Eagles was Amanda Vice (29:02), Virginia Hutton (29:54), Eryn Speer (30:06), and Abigail Finn (32:56).