ACWORTH, Ga. – Four Kennesaw State Owls track and field athletes had a rare chance to compete as a team during the summer months this past weekend, running in the Second Annual Summer Solstice Cross Country Challenge in Acworth, Ga., on Saturday. The team of Nathan Haskins, Ryan Burruss, Steve Murray and former Owl Alex Kaas won the event with a total of 88 points.

Haskins, a rising senior, took home first place in the 5k race with a time of 15:23.67, with Murray right behind him in the second spot at 16:31.18. The course primarily consisted of grass and dirt surfaces with an occasional hay bale to jump over. The team, who competed under the name of “Silence is Golden 3,” valued the chance to run together during the summer, as the team concept is very much a factor once cross country season starts.

“It’s a good point during the summer training season to see how we’re doing individually, but also to see how we will shape up as a team and how our depth is going to be this fall,” said Haskins, who earned All-Atlantic Sun Conference Second Team honors last year with an eight place finish at the A-Sun Cross Country Championship. “We’ll be able to see what kind of shape we’re all in compared to one another. Running is such an individual sport that sometimes it’s good to run together and remember how important it is to work together as a team.”

Owls head Stan Sims and his squad are slated to begin their 2010 campaign on September 3 at the JSU Cross Country Invitational in Jacksonville, Ala.

Second Annual Summer Solstice Cross Country Challenge- Saturday, June 26
1. Nathan Haskins- 15:23.67
2. Steven Murray- 16:31.18
4. Ryan Burruss- 16:52.94
51. James Verdi- 19:58.43