TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Gators made their presence well known in enemy territory on Friday morning, as the Florida men's and women's cross country team swept first-place team finishes at the Florida State Invitational, hosted at the Apalachee Regional Park. Senior
Jessica Pascoe continued her dominant performance this season, collecting her third individual title in three meets this season, while the men's
Matt Clark,
Colin Schaefer and
Jack Guyton tallied 3-4-5 finishes to lead the Florida men to victory. The women additionally saw three top-10 finishes on the day, with personal-best efforts from
Payton Capes-Davis,
Imogen Barrett and
Pamela O'Brien, to guide Florida to victory.
Â
The Florida men (34 points) narrowly edged North Florida (37 points) for the first-place finish, while Stetson would finish third in the men's 8k race with 111 points. Florida dominated the women's field, accounting for 29 points, while host No. 11 Florida State (63 points) and Division II Tampa (127 points) followed in second and third-place respectively in the women's 5k.
Â
In total, the Gators enjoyed 11 personal records on the day, with eight coming from the women's 5k race and three in the men's 8k.
Â
Redshirt sophomore
Matt Clark continues to up his performance, notching his first career top-five finish in third place with a collegiate-best 8k time of 24:43.
Colin Schaefer (24:47.4) and
Jack Guyton (24:48.5) followed shortly after, rounding out the race's top-five to secure the 3-4-5 finish for the Gators. With four of UNF's top five runners finishing within the top-12,
Trevor Foley (25:19) and
Blake Lowery (25:24.4) saved the day for the Gators, hustling to cross the finish line 15
th and 16
th respectively, edging UNF's Sem Sultanov in 17
th-place to secure the victory for Florida. The Gators would then see top-25 finishes from
Marshall Dillon (25:37.8) and
Matt Bomkamp (25:43.1), finishing 21
st and 24
th respectively in their best performances of the season.
Â
Additionally, several Gators featured in the top-50, as
Nick Deal placed 28
th, while freshman
Hugh Brittenham (34
th) continues to improve in recording a collegiate-best time of 26:09.6 in the men's 8k.
Dominic Williams (26:10.6) crossed the line in 35
th, while freshman
Cavan Wilson notched a collegiate-best performance of 26:18.7 to finish 44
th.
Â
The women's 5k race in Tallahassee seemed to be destined for the Gators, as 10 of Florida's 12 runners finished within the top-40, with Florida's top five finishers included in the top-15 and three within the top-25.
Â
Jessica Pascoe brought another determined approach to Friday morning's 5k race, as the senior notched her third consecutive individual title this season with a time of 17:20.1.
Payton Capes-Davis would follow up in fourth to notch a top-five finish for the Gators, while achieving a personal-best time 17:48.1 in the race. Shortly after,
Imogen Barrett (7
th) and
Pamela O'Brien (8
th) rounded out the Gators in the top-10, finishing with collegiate-best times of 17:57.7 and 18:00.4 respectively, as
Elisabeth Bergh (18:11.2) would finish 15
th to cap the Gators' top five finishers in the women's 5k race.
Â
Freshman
Maria Fernandez would finish 21
st with a collegiate-best time of 18:21.1, followed by another pair of collegiate-best efforts in
Madison Morse (18:24.7) and
Emily Culley (18:25.1), who finished 23
rd and 24
th respectively. Freshman
Jackie Addy recorded a personal-best time of 18:43.1 in finishing 35
th, while
Grace Blair (39
th) and
Gianna Forte followed, with Forte recording a personal-best time of 19:10 in 52
nd place.
Â
Gators Men – 8k
Â
Gators Women – 5k
Â
THOUGHTS FROM ASSISTANT COACH CHRIS SOLINSKY:
- "The men and women came to compete today. They were aggressive and ran tough today. We recently finished a tough training block and now we turn to racing and keep building momentum"
- "The men were aggressive and ran tough as a team. They did a good job of finding each other and pushing one another the whole race. The best is yet to come."
- "The women got the job done. We accomplished what we came here to do and that was to compete and build confidence."
Â
FSU INVITATIONAL MEET INFORMATION:
- Venue: Apalachee Regional Park
- Men's 8k: 211 runners, 26 teams
- 1. Florida; 2. North Florida; 3. Stetson
- Women's 5k: 228 runner, 32 teams
- 1. Florida; 2. No. 11 Florida State; 3. Tampa
Â
UP NEXT:
- The Gators take the course again next weekend, gearing up for the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station, Texas on Saturday, Oct. 19.