Gators Compete in the Notre Dame Invitational
Friday, October 3, 2008 | Cross Country
The Gator cross country team will compete in the 53rd Annual Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday evening. The women will be running the 5K race at 4:15 p.m. and the men will be running the 5-mile race at 5 p.m.
The No. 14 Florida women's team will be racing against 11 nationally-ranked teams in the blue division race. No. 3 Florida State is the highest-ranked team competing in the meet, followed by No. 6 Princeton, No. 10 Illinois and No. 13 Providence. The Gators will run the same lineup as the Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 20, in which the top five runners finished in the top six spots.
Freshman Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) earned her first career victory in her first collegiate race at the Mountain Dew invite and garnered the third-best time in the UF record books for fastest Gator on the UF Golf Course in the 5K. She currently holds the third spot on the 2008 SEC's 5K times (17:34.79). Sophomore Ali Crabb (St. Petersburg, Fla.) placed second at the meet and holds the fifth spot on the same list (17:36.99).
The men's team, ranked fourth in the South Region, will be competing against seven nationally-ranked teams in the men's blue division. No. 8 Michigan is the highest-ranked
team, followed by No. 9 Georgetown, No. 19 Providence and No. 26 Florida State. The Gators will add one runner to the lineup that took first in the Mountain Dew Invitational, taking the first five places. Junior Justin Taylor (St. Augustine, Fla.) joins the Gators for his first race of the season.
Senior Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla.) finished first in at the Mt. Dew invite, followed by juniors Matt Henlsey (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and Sean Blaney (Kissimmee, Fla.). Freshman Josh Izewski (Doylestown, Pa.) finished fourth and earned SEC Freshman of the Week for his strong performance.
The other Southeastern Conference teams competing in the Notre Dame Invitational are Kentucky and Mississippi State. It will mark the first time in 2008 Florida will compete against a conference foe.
The last time the Gators ran in the Notre Dame Invitational was in 2006, when the women finished seven and the 26th-ranked men tied for fourth place. Current senior Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) was the first UF runner to cross the finish line in 30th. On the men's side, Criscione broke a school record in the 5-mile (23:48) and finished fifth overall.
Complete meet results will be available on Notre Dame's website (www.und.com) after the conclusion of the final race. Florida specific-results will be available on www.gatorzone.com.
