TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Sophomore Geoffrey Sambu recorded the highest finish in school history when he placed 13th at the NCAA South Regional Cross Country Championships Friday morning, while classmate Brennan Huber also had a strong effort with a Top 90 showing.

A first-year member of the Golden Eagle squad following a transfer from Florida A&M, Sambu ran a career-best and school record time of 30:51.60 to place 13th overall. His time was 9:00.4 at 3K and 15:07.4 when he finished the first 5K on the course at Apalachee Regional Park. He swept past the 8K mark in 24:39.1.

The sophomore from Nakura, Kenya, earned the highest finish in Tech cross country history and was crowned All-Region, the first Tech runner to receive that honor. He missed by just three spots in the final standings a place at the NCAA National Championships.

"Geoffrey ran a gutsy race," said first-year Golden Eagle coach Wayne Angel. "He probably ran a little faster mile at the start than I really wanted, but he held on and did Tennessee Tech proud."

Sambu was the second finisher in the meet from all Tennessee schools.

The first two teams qualified to advance to the National meet (Mississippi and Florida State). In addition, the top four individual finishers who are not members of those teams also received entry into the national meet. Those went to runners from Tennessee, South Alabama, Georgia and North Florida. It was Michael Damato of UNF who edged Sambu, placing 12th in the time of 30:42.4.

Huber placed 87th overall among the 160 runners in the field in the time of 32:22.80, also a personal best effort. A second-year Golden Eagle out of Greenbrier, Tenn., Huber covered the first 3K in 9:19.4, and passed the 5K checkpoint in 15:49.6. His time at the 8K mark was 25:51.3.

"I am so proud of both Geoffrey and Brennan," Angel said. "They are laying the foundation for a great cross country program in the future at Tennessee Tech."

Click here for complete NCAA South Regional results