EVANSVILLE— After a short break, the Austin Peay men's cross country team was back in action as they picked up a third-place finish at the Evansville Invitational, Saturday.

The Governors have developed a small rivalry against the host school, Evansville, and once again the Governors persevered and beat Evansville 99 to 105. Sophomore Thomas Porter led the way for the Governors in the 8k race and posted 15th-place finish with a time of 26:27.7. Junior Tyler Smith was next to cross the finish line as he posted his season-best at 26:44.1 (17th), while senior Hezron Kiptoo secured another top 20 finish as he placed 18th with the time of 26:46.2.

Sophomore Daniel Davis placed 35th and with a season-best time of 27:37.8. Andrew Abel was not far behind Davis, finishing less than 15 seconds after his teammate at 27:52.8 (40th). The duo of Nash Young and Joseph Redman used the pack running style to their advantage and placed in back to back spots (50th and 51st) with times of 28:45.7 and 28:48.5, respectively.

"Solid effort from the team. We put a lot of pressure on our guys to step it up and as a whole, we did that," said head coach Doug Molnar. "Abel and Davis came up big today. This team has definitely developed over the course of the year. Couldn't be prouder of our effort."

The Governors are set for the moment every runner waits for at the biggest stage, the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Championship, Oct. 27.