CLEVELAND, MS- The Millsaps Majors men's cross-country team place fourth overall out of eight teams at this weekend's Delta State Invitational in Cleveland, Mississippi. 

"We set out to run negative splits and emphasize the second half of the race this weekend," coach Andy Till said. "This is not an easy strategy and the guys executed it really well, this was a big meet for us."

Ben Parva used a strong second half of his 6K race to finish in third place overall. The senior found himself in 10th after the first mile and at a 5:13 pace. Parva kicked it into high gear, finishing with an overall time of 19:36 and a 5:15 average mile. 

Ken Newburger came through the first mile at a 5:45 pace, and also had a strong second half of the 6k. Newburger finished strong and in 8th place overall with a time of 20:42 and a 5:33 mile average. 

"It was great to see him move through the pack on Saturday," Till said. " He showed a lot of confidence as well as discipline and executed our plan really well."

Also running strong this week was Jared Allen, placing 13th overall with a time of 20:58.05 and a 5:37 average mile. The Majors placed four runners in the top-20 Saturday with Travis Hebeler finishing 20th with a time of 21:18.22 and a 5:43 average mile. Michael Sullivan placed 29th on Saturday with a time of 22:11. 56 and a 5:57 mile while Sam Martin placed 32nd with a time of 22:40.42 and a 6:05 mile. 

The Majors will look to build off this Saturday's success as they train for next weekend's meet at Rhodes.