BLACKSBURG, Va. - Avery Martin finished fifth overall to lead the VMI men's cross country team at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invite, contested Friday in Blacksburg, Va.

Martin crossed the line in 24:59, marking just the second time that he had broken the 25-minute mark in an 8K. He helped the Keydets finish fifth overall with 134 points, 10 points ahead of SoCon rival ETSU's seventh-place effort.

"Avery ran a great race today," said VMI's director of track and field and cross country, Darrin Webb. "Several of our other runners did as well, and it was nice to have distance coach Drew Ludtke here for his first meet as a Keydet."

The rest of the Keydet top five included Daniel DeNijs, who was 24th in 25:31 and Sean Helmke, who came home 39th in 25:38.

Brandon White (25:49/45th) and Kyle Sabourin (26:02/54th) comprised the rest of the top five, with Jay Broom acting as VMI's #6 runner with an 83rd-place finish in 26:46.

Zach Chase (27:09/93rd), Tripp Fitch (28:03/112th), Patrick Spahn (28:14/116th) and Luke Lysher (30:01/134th) rounded out the remainder of the Keydets who were in action Friday.

Akron won the race, edging Florida State by one point, while the Seminoles' Zak Seddon was the individual winner in 24:50.

VMI cross country returns to action Oct. 3, when the Keydets take part in the George Mason Invite in Leesburg, Va.