VSU Border Clash Recap
VALDOSTA, Ga. (September 8, 2021) – Tallahassee Community College's men's and women's cross country teams were back on the trail at last Friday's Valdosta State University Border Clash.
The Eagle men brought home an eighth-place finish in the team standings, which included the likes of the host Blazers, University of Tampa, Florida Southern College, University of West Alabama, Georgia College and Flagler College. Of the five NJCAA programs participating, Tallahassee finished third behind Daytona State College and Lake-Sumter State College.
Leo Rutledge paced the Eagles by finishing 15th in the field of 122 runners. A week after clocking his first 8K time, Rutledge ran the 7.25K in 24:26.2, a school record for that distance, which is unique to the VSU Border Clash.
Ryan Sloan was next across the finish line for Tallahassee in 63rd with a time of 26:30.0.
Jalani White (26:54.8), Shawn Marcum (27:11.8) and Khary Wright (27:34.4) finished the scoring for Tallahassee.
The team time average of 26:32 over the 4.5-mile course was a significant improvement from the TCC XC Open, held a week earlier, according to head coach Gary Droze.
"There is still plenty of work to do," said Droze, "but with an open date next weekend, the men have an opportunity for focused, hard training as we prepare for our next race."
Bryce Bass posted a 29:43.9 and Jahari White a 34:11.6 to round out the men's finishers.
In the women's 5K, Arielle Valdes finished 75th with a time of 24:02.3.
The Eagles' next race will be the Alligator Lake Invitational in Lake City, Fla., on September 17.
