Men’s Track Earns Seven Top-Five Finishes at Bob Hayes Invitational

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Southern men's track team had several strong performances Friday night at the Bob Hayes Invitational hosted by the University of North Florida. The Moccasins had at least one top-five finisher in every event they entered including a team-best third place finish by sophomore Christian Giller in the 5,000m.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Location: Visit Jax Track at Hodges Stadium | Jacksonville, Fla.
 
TOP PERFORMERS

• Sophomore Christian Giller led a group of seven Moccasins in the 5,000m as he took third place Friday night with a time of 14:45.92. Classmate Chris Colavita finished two spots back in fifth as he crossed the line in 14:55.85, 13 seconds faster than his previous season-best. Junior Seth Augustynowski came in next for the Mocs as he picked up a 17^th-place finish after stopping the clock at 15:30.94. Rounding out the top-20 was junior Aiden Redmond who took 20^th with a time of 15:35.60. The final three competitors for the Mocs were freshman Jaden Rapp (25^th, 15:51.48), junior James Simpson (28^th, 16:07.73) and senior Luke Dickinson (40^th, 16:47.68), who was making his 2024 outdoor track debut.
• The opening event of the evening was the 1,500m which saw sophomore Anthony Matthew earn a top-five finish as he placed fourth overall to lead the four Moccasins. Matthew stopped the clock at 3:53.16 to earn his top-five finish. Freshman Cole Summers was the next FSC finisher as he took 14^th after completing the distance in 4:00.61. Freshmen Declan Ziomek and Connor Brooks finished within two spots of each other to round out the Moccasin finishers. Ziomek crossed first as he took 26^th with a time of 4:11.78 while Brooks came in at 4:16.52 to take 28^th.
• Sophomore Caleb Brady and freshman Dillon Mantei became the first Moccasins to compete in the 3,000m steeplechase this season. The pair finished back-to-back with Brady taking fourth and Mantei coming across fifth. Brady clocked in at 9:51.56 while Mantei crossed in 10:04.31.
• The final event of the night was the 10,000m which went past midnight. The Moccasins sent five runners to the line with three earning top-10 finishes. Graduate student Alex Guy led the way as he placed fourth after completing the longest race of the season in 31:39.79. Three spots back, senior Bryson Yamnitz came across in seventh after completing the distance in 31:57.66. The final top-10 finisher was freshman Dylan Bailey who placed ninth at 32:14.07. The final two Moccasins finished in 13^th and 14^th place with freshman William Canales taking 13^th and classmate Cameron Raney placing 14^th. Canales stopped the clock at 32:31.51 while Raney came across 32:35.22.

 
UP NEXT:
The Moccasins will be back in action Friday and Saturday, March 22-23, at the UCF Knights Invite in Orlando, Fla.