Maier sets cross-country record
Special to the Outlook
Sophomore Mat Maier set a school-record in the 8K race to lead the Tallahassee Community College men’s cross-country team to an eighth-place finish in the college division at Florida State University Cross Country Invitational.
The annual FSU Invite last Friday marked the first event at Apalachee Regional Park since the COVID-19 shutdown in the spring. This past April the Regional Park was named the host venue for the NJCAA Division I & II Cross Country Championships in 2022.
After opening its season at the Alligator Lake Invitational in Lake City, Fla., on Sept. 18, head coach Gary Droze saw marked improvements at the FSU event.
“We still have a fair amount of work to do, but we knocked out two early season goals: we established a new school record and we posted a team average of under 30 minutes,” Droze said.
Photo courtesy Jason Hendrix
Maier improved the previous school record by 17 seconds, crossing the finish in 27:52.9, good for 36th place overall.
Sophomore Will Stratton and freshman Bryce Bass posted top-10 all-time times for the Eagles. Stratton finished in 29:08.7, the fourth-best 8K time in school history while Bass’ 30:03.8 now ranks eighth. They finished in 57th and 62nd, respectively.
Sophomore Rodolph Adonis clocked a 31:21.8 and was followed immediately by freshman Shawn Marcum, who posted a 31:32.2.
Freshman Elijah Oquendo finished in 33:19.4 while sophomore Austin Erbaio ran a time of 34:58.3.
Tallahassee’s next scheduled event is the TCC Eagle Invite on Oct. 17.
Marshall next stop for Grimes
The next time TCC baseball standout Cyrus Grimes suits up it will be as a member of Marshall University team. Grimes, who signed his NCAA letter of intent with Marshall during the early signing period in November 2019, as his sophomore season at TCC cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo courtesy Greg Rowland
Grimes, a native of Navarre, Fla., transferred to Tallahassee in 2019 from the University of South Alabama. He appeared in 54 games, primarily as an outfielder, during his two seasons with the Eagles.
Grimes batted .343 with five home runs and 31 RBI in 35 games as a freshman to earn second-team All-Panhandle Conference honors. Before his sophomore season was cut short when the COVID-19 pandemic ended the 2020 season, he had appeared in just 19 games.
Marshall, located in Huntington, W.Va., competes in Conference USA.
