Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Mountain Dew Invitational crown is back in the hands of both Florida men's and women's cross country teams, as the Gators swept first-place team finishes on Friday morning in front of an electric home crowd at UF's Mark Bostick Golf Course. The title serves as the Florida women's sixth consecutive Mountain Dew Invitational title, as senior Jessica Pascoe collected her second consecutive first-place finish to become the second Gator to achieve four top-5 finishes at the home meet.
 
The last time both Florida men's and women's cross country teams swept Mountain Dew Invitational titles was 2016.
 
The Florida men came out on top with 40 team points on the day, with all top-five runners finishing in the top-10, while North Florida (53 points) and Embry-Riddle (142 points) followed in second and third place respectively. The women finished with 30 points, seeing five runners finish in the top-10, as Tampa (107 points) and North Florida (133 points) followed.
 
Additionally, the Gators enjoyed nine personal bests on the day between the men's and women's teams.
 
In the men's 8k race, sophomore Nick Deal led the way for Florida with a sixth place finish time of 25:45.34 before the Gators would bring in the 7-8-9-10 finishes to round out the race's top-10. Redshirt senior Jack Guyton (25:50.79) was the next to cross the finish line, followed by Matt Clark (with a new personal best time of 25:53.70), Colin Schaefer (23:36.01), and Blake Lowery (26:07.32).
 
Sophomore Trevor Foley rounded out the Gators in the top-15, finishing just behind Lowery in 11^th place with a time of 26:09.62.
 
Jessica Pascoe dominated the field from the start in the women's 5k race, finishing almost a whole minute faster than the next competitor (17:52.24) to claim a first-place finish time of 16:54.74. Her four top-five finishes in the Mountain Dew Invitational matches the likes of Gator great Genevieve LaCaze in the event's history.
 
Junior Payton Capes-Davis followed finishing in second place in her Mountain Dew Invitational debut, as freshmen Maria Fernandez (18:26.31) and Pamela O'Brien (18:30.66) notched personal bests claiming eighth and ninth-place finishes respectively. Sophomore Grace Blair (18:32.39) would then finish in 10^th place for the Gators, while freshman Emily Culley placed 11^th to set a PR of 18:36.32 and round out the top-15 for the Florida women.
 
Additionally, the Florida women had runners finish in the top-25, with redshirt senior Madison Morse (21^st) finishing with a personal best of 18:55.45 while Sophie Piniella (25^th) also set a PR of 18:59.48 in the women's race.
 
Gators Women – 5k

Place	Runner	Time
1	Jessica Pascoe	16:54.74
2	Payton Capes-Davis	17:52.22
8	Maria Fernandez	18:26.31 (PR)
9	Pamela O'Brien	18:30.66 (PR)
10	Grace Blair	18:32.39
11	Emily Culley	18:36.32 (PR)
21	Madison Morse	18:55.45 (PR)
25	Sophie Piniella	18:59.48 (PR)
32	Sophie Ebihara	19:13.02
48	Gianna Forte	19:35.27 (PR)
73	Autumn Bartlett	19:52.12

 
 
Gators Men – 8k

Place	Runner	Time
6	Nick Deal	25:45.34
7	Jack Guyton	25:50.79
8	Matt Clark	25:53.70 (PR)
9	Colin Schaefer	26:01.86
10	Blake Lowery	26:07.32
11	Trevor Foley	26:09.62
33	Marshall Dillon	26:49.76
38	Hugh Brittenham	27:00.88 (PR)
48	Matthew Bomkamp	27:20.14
71	Cavan Wilson	27:43.41 (PR)
76	Jesse Milson	27:48.98
134	Dominic Williams	29:03.64

 
THOUGHTS ON RACES FROM ASSISTANT COACH CHRIS SOLINSKY:

•  "We've put things together slowly, especially on the men's side, and it was nice to see them come out and execute finely. And we still have things and areas we need to work on so knowing that with what they did today, I'm pretty pleased. We had sickness for the last week and a half or so kind of run through our team, and people are still a little bit weak coming off of that, but I thought they did a really really good job of just being tough."
• "Before the race I told them, 'It's going to get hard and it's going to be tough. Step up to that and when it gets tough, don't surrender and don't let in.' We've been talking about the Gator standard and we're trying to live up to that. The men did a really good job of that and the women have taken that step forward a little bit sooner. And to see them follow through with that, especially without Imogen [Barrett] and Elisabeth [Bergh], we're looking strong for the future."

Mountain Dew Invitational Information:

• Venue: Mark Bostick Golf Course at the University of Florida
• Men: 33 teams, 304 runners
  • Division 1: 1. Florida, 2. North Florida, 3. Florida Gulf Coast
  • Collegiate Division: 1. Embry-Riddle, 2. Saint Leo, 3. Flagler
• Women: 36 teams, 306 runners
  • Division 1: 1. Florida, 2. North Florida, 3. Troy
  • Collegiate Division: 1. Tampa, 2. Southeastern U., 3. Embry-Riddle

UP NEXT:

• Florida will compete next in two weeks when it splits the team for races at the Virginia Invitational and UCF Knights Invitational on Friday, Sept. 27.