CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Junior Evan Ortiz (McDonough, Ga.) paced Clayton State men's cross country for the fourth straight meet as the team finished 31-of-43 at the Queens Cross Country Challenge on Friday, October 12. As a unit, they finished with 980 points.
 
Due to a major timing incident at the finish of the women's race that took out the timing device, all results were unofficial until the morning of Saturday, October 13.
 
Ortiz placed 157-of-396 in the massive field with a time of 26:24.00 while senior Ryan Polk (Marietta, Ga.) came in at 197^th (26:53.00). Sophomore Zach Czerniak (Suwanee, Ga.) was the next highest finisher in 285^th with a mark of 28:34.00 with sophomore Na'im Allen (McDonough, Ga.) at 333^rd (30:19.00). Redshirt-junior Jason Dang (Gainesville, Ga.) rounded things out with a time of 30:53.00 in 343^rd.
 
Host Queens won the meet with 58 points, bettering more than 50 teams. Directly behind them were Mount Olive (62), Division I Morehead State (73), Lee (133) and Alabama-Huntsville (140) to round out the top five.
 
Clayton State is right back in action on Saturday, October 20 as compete in the Bobcat Invitational. Start time is set for approximately 9:15 a.m.
 
Clayton State Finishers at Queens Cross Country Challenge
Evan Ortiz – 157-of-396 (26:24.00)
Ryan Polk – 197-of-396 (26:53.00)
Zach Czerniak – 285-of-396 (28:34.00)
Na'im Allen – 333-of-396 (30:19.00)
Jason Dang – 343-of-396 (30:53.00)