BETHLEHEM, Pa.- Competing in his first cross country race at any level, freshman Felix Kitur placed 125th overall and led the VMI men's cross country team to a 31st place finish at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh on Friday afternoon.

Kitur (Eldoret, Kenya/Digital Advisory and Learning Centre) went out quickly in the beginning of the race, and ended up with a time of 26:04 on the 8K course to pace the Keydet squad. He was joined up top by fellow freshman Ermin Mujezinovic (Herndon, Va./Herndon), who placed 138th overall with a time of 26:10. Sophomore Matt Sagar (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton) placed 154th with a clocking of 26:19, while senior Kurt Able (Wesley Chapel, Fla./Wesley Chapel) was the team's fourth runner, placing 193rd with a 26:38. Rounding out the scoring for the Keydets was freshman Geophery Mills (Chesapeake, Va./Oscar F. Smith), who also ran his first collegiate race, finishing 205th with a time of 26:52.

The team collected 815 points, finishing just one spot behind Radford (804 points) and two spots behind Coastal Carolina (762 points). Winthrop was the top Big South team in the race, placing 22nd with a score of 634.

"On the mens' side, we were significantly better today than two weeks ago at Asheville," said VMI head coach Paul Spangler. "I was impressed by Felix leading us in his first-ever cross country race, he did a great job considering that fact. We made up a lot of ground on Radford today, and finished right behind Coastal Carolina as well, who were the runners-up in the Big South last year. This was an encouraging race, and I believe that we have the potential to continue improving over the next few races."

Select mens' team runners from the VMI cross country team will compete in a dual race against Washington & Lee on Saturday afternoon at the Virginia Horse Center. The team then returns to action in two weeks, competing at the Furman Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 13.