GREENVILLE, S.C.- Freshman Felix Kitur led the VMI men's cross country team to a seventh place finish at the Furman Cross Country Invitational, held on Saturday morning in Greenville, S.C.

Kitur (Eldoret, Kenya), running in only his second cross country race, placed 12th overall with a time of 26:50 on a course that measured 8,300 meters. He was followed closely by senior Kurt Able (Wesley Chapel, Fla.), who was the team's second finisher, placing 18th with a time of 27:06. Sophomore Matt Sagar (Alexandria, Va.) placed 20th overall with a time of 27:10, while junior Andrew Rademaker (Fork Union, Va.) finished 41st, coming in with a clocking of 27:36. Rounding out the scoring for the Keydets was senior Ben Switzer (Rockbridge Baths, Va.), who placed 44th overall with a showing of 27:38.

The Keydets (117 pts.) finished in seventh place, just ahead of Miami (Fla.), who posted 198 points. East Tennessee State took the team title with a score of 40 points, followed by Charlotte with 83 points and Winthrop with 91 points. Taking the individual title was ETSU's Kenneth Rotich, who put down a blistering pace of 25:55.

"Felix gave us another good outing, especially for being only his second cross country race," said VMI head coach Paul Spangler. "Behind him, Kurt Able ran a great race to come in as our second finisher, and Matt Sagar ran a solid race as well to place in the top twenty. It was good to see Andrew and Ben come back and finish in the scoring for us, they've had to battle through some illness and injury and were able to contribute today. Now we'll look to carry this momentum over the next couple of weeks into the Big South Championships."

The VMI cross country teams return to action in two weeks, as they compete at the Big South Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27 in Hendersonville, N.C.