Led by freshmen Chris Batista and

Belinda Bargmann, the TSU Men and Women’s

Cross Country teams finished runners up to Atlantic Sun powerhouse Georgia State Panthers at the Troy State-Coach Oliver Invitational Cross Country Meet held at Trojan Oaks Golf Course this past Saturday.

Batista finished 4th overall behind former TSU All American Michael Green (running unattached) and two of GSU’s top runners, Tee Mott and Giovanni Gentiluomo.

Green covered the difficult 5000-meter course in 15:57 with Batista crossing the line in 16:30. For the Trojans Ben Contratto and Rob Barton finished 15th and 16th respectively while Jason Cross continued his comeback with a 19th place finish.

Adam Bess rounded out the TSU top five as he ran his best race of the season for a 24th place finish.

There were 75 runners representing nine universities plus a number of unattached runners in the men’s race.

"Chris is finally learning how to race, and should do well at the Atlantic Sun Championships this weekend," said TSU Distance Coach Doc Anderson.

"Well just hope that the rest of the guys can hunker down and try to put it altogether in Atlanta on Saturday."

For the women Bargmann ran surprisingly tough and finished within 30 seconds of GSU’s Nigisti Negussie who conquered the TSU 3000-meter course with an excellent 11:00 flat time. Former UT Chattanooga star Leah Moore running unattached was second while Amy Odermatt of Auburn

and Laurie Harris of the Lady Panthers just nipped Bargmann who clocked an 11:30 for her 5th place finish.

Teammate Lindsey Minnihan’s 11:54 earned her 14th place while Mandi Dyess(17th), Malene By(20th), and Jennifer Lynch (24th) completed the scoring places for the Lady Trojans.

"Belinda has been on a mission all year and it’s really paying off as we get into the peaking phase of our training," said TSU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Bob Lambert. "As a group the women’s team should compete well in Atlanta, especially with

Malene By getting over her bout with the flu."

Both teams depart Friday morning for Atlanta in preparation for the Atlantic Sun Championships to be held on the Panthersville Course located at the Georgia State Regional Hospital in Atlanta. The men’s 8000-meter championship gets underway at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning, followed by the women’s 5000-meter race at 10:00 a.m.

"We’re motivated to run fast so that we can get back to Troy in time for homecoming which is a special time for all former and current Trojans," said Anderson has he prepares the team during their final week of training.