Virginia Union University's men's cross-country team won the team championship while Micah Kipruto took home the individual championship at the Panther Invite, held on Friday, September 29, at Bryan Park in Richmond, Va.

The VUU women's team placed fourth in the women's 5000-meter race, which saw five official teams at the starting line.  

Virginia State won the women's meet with a team score of 25 while Bluefield State University placed second with a score of 63.  Shaw University was third with a score of 73 with VUU finishing fourth with a score of 78,  Chowan University rounded out the scoring with a fifth-place score of 98.

On the men's side, Kipruto won individual honor in the 8000-meter race with a time of 26:42.55 as the Panthers won with 43 points.  Virginia State was second with 49 points while Shaw was third with 51 points.  Bluefield State was fourth with a score of 106 and Chowan was fifth with a score of 121.  Elizabeth City State University also scored 121, but Chowan won the tiebreaker.

"I'm proud of my whole team but there is lots of work to do.," said VUU Head Cross-Country Franck Charles.  "We came in this week having a mindset on protecting our home. I'm super proud of my guys for taking the win and putting a much-needed effort into practice the last week. We all know what the ultimate goal is for both teams, and we plan on striving to reach that goal.  I also want to say congratulations to Micah Kipruto for coming in first place."

The VUU women's and men's cross-country teams will now compete in the HBCU Challenge, to be held on Saturday, October 7, in Cary, N.C.