EARLYSVILLE, Va. — Freshman Clinton Kipruto won his second straight race to open the season and Norfolk State packed three runners inside seven seconds of each other to finish fourth in a six-team field Friday morning at the Virginia Invitational, hosted by the University of Virginia at Panorama Farms.

Kipruto again ran from the front and never let anyone else take the lead, moving through 2K in 5:53.1, 3K in 8:57.8 and 5K in 14:53.5 before winning the 6,000-meter race in 17:39.0, a personal best. He held off North Carolina's Joe Barrett by 5.3 seconds and was the only runner outside the Tar Heel lineup to crack the top five. The time lowered his winning mark from the Spider Alumni Open by 26.5 seconds over the same distance.

Norfolk State's middle group did the rest of the work, with each of the Spartans' remaining finishers also posting personal-best times. Sophomore Daniel Mathenge was 19th in 18:25.3, junior Lewis Too took 20th in 18:27.5 and junior Ian Kimutai followed in 24th at 18:32.1, a 6.8-second gap from the Spartans' second runner to their fourth. Junior Mathew Kipkoech closed the scoring in 42nd at 19:10.7.

Sophomore Jemmel Green also finished with a personal best time, placing 48th in 19:21.7. Junior Mohammed Mrahi, who sat 35th at the 2K mark, did not finish.

The Spartans totaled 93 points behind North Carolina (21), William & Mary (73) and Virginia (80), and finished ahead of Johns Hopkins (99) and MEAC opponent Howard (185). Norfolk State's team average of 18:26.92 was within a half-second of fifth-place Johns Hopkins over five scorers.

"Every man who crossed that line today came away with a personal record, and that tells you everything about the work they've put in," director of track and field Kenneth Giles said. "This was a great team effort from front to back. We're right where we're supposed to be at this point in the season."

Runners raced in 71-degree temperatures under cloudy skies with 99 percent humidity.

Norfolk State Results — Men's 6K

Place	Athlete	Yr.	Time
1	Clinton Kipruto	Fr.	17:39.0 (PR)
19	Daniel Mathenge	So.	18:25.3 (PR)
20	Lewis Too	Jr.	18:27.5 (PR)
24	Ian Kimutai	Jr.	18:32.1 (PR)
42	Mathew Kipkoech	Jr.	19:10.7 (PR)
48	Jemmel Green	So.	19:21.7 (PR)
—	Mohammed Mrahi	Jr.	DNF

Team Scoring

1. North Carolina — 21
2. William & Mary — 73
3. Virginia — 80
4. Norfolk State — 93
5. Johns Hopkins — 99
6. Howard — 185

UP NEXT: The Spartans return to action Friday, Oct. 2, at the Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pa. The race is scheduled for 9 a.m.