FAIRBURN, Ga. – The Jacksonville State Cross Country teams sent 11 athletes to Fairburn, Ga. on Friday to participate in the Georgia Tech Invitational. The partial men's squad placed fifth in the event while the women participated as individuals.

After missing the first three meets of the season nursing an injury, Jax State sophomore Mark Roper wasted no time making an impact, finishing as the top Gamecock on the men's side.

"Having Mark back competing will be great for our men's team moving forward," said Jax State head coach Jeremy Provence, "He battled some injuries starting in the summer months but we have been patient and he is a great competitor."

Roper placed seventh in the men's race with a time of 24:46.30 in the 8K. He was followed by freshman Pai Wynyard in 21^st, Kaden Harris in 47^th and Blake Graham in 58^th. Drew Cook finished out the Jax State top five with a 60^th place finish.

Caden Meyer, Milan Axelgaard and Sam Green rounded out the Jax State participants in the 8K.

"It was exciting to see some of our individuals who were not able to attend the last meet get a competition in," said Provence.

On the women's end, Clara Rubio Machacon led the four individuals with a 56^th place finish while Maddyn Conn crossed the finish line just five seconds later in 58^th.

Rudi Barnette and Addison Tiemann also participated in the 6K run for the Gamecock women.

"As a group, we saw a lot of positive results this morning," said Provence.

The Gamecocks will return to action on Oct. 18 with the Upstate Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C. Last season, Jax State earned the men's team title at the Upstate Invitational.