AVE MARIA, Fla. – The Southeastern University men’s cross country team won its first Sun Conference title in dominating fashion on Saturday.

Southeastern had a team score of 25 points, beating the host Ave Maria by 68 points for the title.

“The depth of our team showed,” said coach Paul Kurtz. “Some of our guys didn’t have their best day, but we still had a great team score and had five of the top 10 which is impressive in a championship like this.”

John Perez-Dunn led the way once again, placing second in a time of 26:54, and was followed 17 seconds later by senior Jordan Gonzalez.

“Jordan is a hard worker and has done a lot of training on his own because of class,” Kurtz said. “I’m really happy for him, he’s had a really good season for us and career.”

Sophomore Stephen Ward was fifth overall in a time of 27:30, and Christopher Pinedo was seventh in 27:43. Those four earned First Team All-Sun Conference recognition.  

David Milburn finished eighth in a time of 27:50. Freshman Drew Knobl along with Milburn earned Second Team All-Sun Conference by placing 10^th in 27:56.

Kurtz was named The Sun Conference Coach of the Year in guiding the Fire to their first title.

“It’s pretty special,” said Kurtz of winning the team title. “It’s been a great year and they’ve really bought into what we are doing and this is just a stepping stone for them to see that they are a national-caliber team.”

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