ROCK HILL, S.C.- The VMI men's cross country team continued to make headlines on Saturday, defeating all comers at the Winthrop Invitational while being led by sophomore Donnie Mikels, who took individual honors with a time of 18:54 over the 6,000 meter course. On the women's side, the Keydets defeated a pair of Big South rivals while finishing eighth of 15 teams.

"I'm very happy with the win," said VMI head coach Paul Spangler. "Our number one and two guys ran great for us. Our number four runner (Edwin Lugo) didn't run for us today, and we still have some work to do in preparation for the Big South championship in two weeks. But it's nice to win and to beat some Conference teams too. That's Donnie's first collegiate cross country victory and he is the first individual champion VMI has had since I've been here (four seasons)."

Mikels (Rustburg, Va.) once again paced the Keydets, and he was joined up front by junior Anthony Harris (Orlando, Fla.), who ran a 19:07 to finish in third place overall. Sophomore Ben Switzer (Rockbridge Baths, Va.) was the third Keydet finisher, running a 19:26 for 12th place, while sophomore Kurt Able (19:39, 16th) and junior Graham Forbes (19:58, 26th) rounded out the scoring runners for VMI.

On the women's side, freshman Kelsey Stafford (Charlottesville, Va.) paced the Keydets, who defeated Big South rivals Radford and Charleston Southern. Stafford finished in 18th overall with a time of 15:36 on the 4,000 meter course, while freshman Christina Mowatt-Larssen (Chantilly, Va.) was the second VMI finisher with a time of 16:10, good enough for 33rd overall. Rounding out the Keydet scorers were Roxanne Franck (16:42, 55th), Kathleen Resetar (16:50, 60th) and Abby Ward (17:42, 82nd).

"The girls ran a good race today," said Spangler. "We beat two conference schools and overall we ran well. We had a couple of girls who were coming off of injuries, so we should be able to improve over the next two weeks as they get back to 100%. Kelsey (Stafford) did a good job today and she beat Citadel's number-one runner, which was her goal. Kathleen (Resetar) looked good in only her second race of the season."

The men defeated Furman by 27 points while also defeating Winthrop, UNC Asheville and Radford, who finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Other rivals defeated by VMI include Washington & Lee (sixth), College of Charleston (seventh), The Citadel (ninth), a Coastal Carolina team with only half of their varsity runners (tenth), Wofford (11th) and Charleston Southern (13th).

Campbell captured the women's crown while Winthrop finished in third place, UNC Asheville in sixth, Radford in tenth place and Charleston Southern in 13th.

Saturday's men's team victory is the team's second this season. In mid-September, the Keydets won the VMI Invitational, defeating Liberty, UNC Asheville and Radford. The team now has two weeks to prepare for the Big South Conference Championships to be hosted by VMI at the Virginia Horse Center on Oct. 29.