ORLANDO, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern Men's and Women's Track teams were back in action at the UCF Black & Gold Challenge competing with 19 athletes. Highlighting the bunch for NSU was Marcus Tortorella winning the men's 5000-meter.

Facing off against schools from a variety of levels, NSU took home gold in the men's 5000-meter as Tortorella set a new program record with a time of 14:51.50, breaking his own record set at the NSU home meet last weekend by over three seconds.
 
Tortorella topped a list of high-profile competitors finishing within ten seconds of runners from Colgate, Merrimack and Florida Gulf Coast. Teammate Marc Gonzalez finished sixth in the event with a new personal record (PR) of 15:05.60.
 
Another school record was broken in the women's 2000m steeplechase by Bella Ascone with a time of 7:30.79, she placed 12^th in the event setting a new PR.  

The Sharks saw a couple fourth place finishes from the Home of the Knights as Leena Saidi crossed the finish line in the Women's 10,000m in 36:32.96 as the top finisher from a Division II school behind finishers from FGCU and North Florida.
 
Isabella Grant also finished fourth in her event, the Women's 5000m, with a time of 17:52.73, setting a new PR in the 5K.
 
Ally Jakubiak turned in a top ten finish in the Women's 1500m with a time of 4:58.06, crossing the line in ninth and the top finisher from a school not named Colgate or Georgia Southern as the Raiders and Eagles combined to take slots one through eight in the results sheet.
 
In another top-15 finish, freshman Seth Roque-Munoz turned in his first on-track 10K after competing in cross country season this past fall. He crossed the line in 15^th for the Sharks with a time of 32:14.79.

The Sharks are back in action next Saturday, March 28, for their second and final home meet of the season at Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Fla. for the Nova Southeastern University Shark Invitational. To stay up-to-date on the Sharks, follow on Instagram and X at NSU_XCTF.