BOONE, N.C.- It was deja-vu all over again for Queens University of Charlotte's men's cross country team as they again took second in team scoring and took the individual title for the second year in a row at Appalachian State's Covered Bridge Open Friday afternoon in Boone, N.C.

Michael Crouch (Yucca Valley, Calif., Yucca Valley) easily won the 4-mile race in 19:22.4 while Florida State defended its team title with 32-points. The Royals' 50-points was enough to beat in-state rivals UNC-Chapel Hill, 3rd with 83- points; and Appalachian State, 4th with 89-points. East Tennessee State and Lenoir Rhyne rounded out team scoring in 5th and 6th.

Behind Crouch's single-point lead, senior Futsum Mebrahtu (Phoenix, Ariz., North) finished 9th in 20:03.3 followed closely behind by teammates Oscar Oqwaro in 11th (20:22.6), the top freshman finisher Alex Schilling (Dresden, Germany, Sportgymnasium ) in 14th (20:34.9), Matthew Rowell (Show Low, Ariz. , Blue Ridge ) in 15th (20:38.0) and Simon Stuetzel in 16th (20:41.7) in the 67-man field. Other Royals finishers included Nelson Mwangi (Kenya, Nairobi School) in 26th (20:59.6), Brian Yates (Newton, N.C., Fred T. Ford) in 31st (21:08.6) and Edgar Santoyo in 36th in 21:16.2.

“We are at least showing our depth,” said coach Scott Simmons. “We've got a long way to go though, but really we are just getting started with our training and progression.”

The Royals, ranked 6th in the nation in the NCAA Division II, will be off next weekend, but return to action at Appalachian State on September 18th.

Team Scores:
1 Florida State 32 2 4 5 8 13 20 22            Total Time: 
1:40:10.20            Average: 20:02.04
2 Queens 50 1 9 11 14 15 16 25            Total Time: 
1:41:01.20            Average: 20:12.24
3 North Carolina 83 6 10 17 23 27 30 Total Time: 1:42:51.81            
Average: 20:34.36
4 Appalachian 89 7 18 19 21 24 26 29 Total Time: 1:43:16.40            
Average: 20:39.28
5 East Tennessee 109 3 12 28 32 34 39 Total Time: 
1:45:28.30            Average: 21:05.66
6 Lenoir Rhyne 172 31 33 35 36 37 38 40 Total Time: 
1:51:36.80            Average: 22:19.36

Top 20 Finishers:
1 Crouch, Michael JR Queens 19:22.4 1
2 O'Lionaird, Ciaran JR Florida State 19:45.1 2
3 Rotich, Ken SR East Tennessee 19:54.5 3
4 Leeder, Matt JR Florida State 19:56.4 4
5 Roberts, Daniel SR Florida State 19:56.7 5
6 Cunningham, Adam SO North Carolina 19:57.8 6
7 Mitchell, Phil SR Appalachian 20:02.0 7
8 Bell, Jared SR Florida State 20:03.0 8
9 Mebrahtu, Futsum SR Queens 20:03.3 9
10 Dawson, Zach SR North Carolina 20:15.9 10
11 Owaro, Oscar SR Queens 20:22.6 11
12 Ronoh, Ben JR East Tennessee 20:27.0 12
13 Maedel, Nick SO Florida State 20:29.0 13
14 Schilling, Alex FR Queens 20:34.9 14
15 Rowell, Matt SR Queens 20:38.0 15
16 Stuetzel, Simon JR Queens 20:41.7 16
17 Blomeke, Steve JR North Carolina 20:42.1 17
18 Staub, Burk FR Appalachian 20:43.6 18
19 Walker, Mike SR Appalachian 20:44.5 19 20 Brooks, Jacob FR Florida State 20:45.8 20

Other Queens Finishers:
26 Mwangi, Nelson JR Queens 20:59.6 25
31 Yates, Brian FR Queens 21:08.6
36 Santoyo, Edgar JR Queens 21:16.2
54 Kelly, Devin JR Queens 22:19.6
62 Liotchev, Stefan SO Queens 24:08.3