MOBILE, Ala. - The Millsaps Majors Men's Cross Country Team was back in action on Saturday morning at the Azalea City Classic in Mobile. The Millsaps Men's Cross Country team ran against Division I, II, & III schools in their first 8K event of the season and finished ninth out of 13 schools and first among all Division III schools.

Leading the Millsaps team was freshmen Jared Allen who was unbelievable in his first 8K as he placed 23rd with a scorching time of 27:18.63

"Jared Allen ran a fearless race and is really putting it all out there," said Head Coach Andy Till. "I never imagined that he'd go out and a 27:18 in his first 8K, but he has the head, talent, and work ethic to do something special in our sport."

Sophomore Ben Parva followed with a 32nd place finished and a personal record time of 27:43.14.

"Ben is doing a great job as a leader and captain of this team," added Till. We achieved our goal coming into this event and the men are responding well to him, this was the best our men's team have run in the four years I've been at Millsaps and I know they will keep improving. 

The rest of the Millsaps team did remarkablle as well as freshman Ken Newburger finished with a time of 28:58.39 while sophomore Sam Martin had a time of 29:30.44 and freshmen Hunter Hidalgo was not far behind with a finish of 29:38.69.

Rounding out Millsaps was junior Will Napier with a time of 30:04.95, freshmen Travis Hebeler with a 30:07.47, freshmen Konstantin Baizat with a time of 31:12.08, and Douglas Kennedy with a time of 35:31.34.

"It's great to have all our men together and healthy," explained Till. "We achieved our goal of five men under 30 minutes and I hope to see all of them under 30 at Rhodes."

The Majors return to action September 29th as they head to Memphis to compete in the Rhodes Invitational. First run is set for 10:40 a.m.