TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — The No. 20/15 Florida State cross country teams return home to Apalachee Regional Park on Friday morning to host the FSU XC Invite/Pre-National meet.
The Pre-Nationals meet will include four races with the Garnet fields featuring many of the top Division I teams in the country. The races will feature 31 teams either ranked or receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA poll.
The Men’s 8k Garnet race will begin at 8:00 a.m., followed by the Women’s 6k Garnet race at 8:35 a.m. The Open races start with the men’s 8k at 9:10 a.m. and the women’s 6k at 9:45 a.m.
“We’re going to see some great competition,” FSU head coach Bob Braman said. “There’s never been a cross country meet this big and this competitive. There’s been nothing like hosted in the history of the state of Florida. This is a big-time meet.”
Admission is $5 and tickets can be purchased at Seminoles.com. There will be live timing available at pttiming.com.
Both of FSU’s cross country teams enter the race ranked nationally in the USTFCCCA polls with the men at No. 20 and the women ranked No. 15. The men climbed nine spots in the week four poll and claimed the top ranking in the NCAA Division I South Region poll for the first time since the 2015 season.
Senior Adriaan Wildschutt earned his second USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Men’s Athlete of the Week honor and his third ACC Performer of the Week honor for the season.
In his most recent race at Apalachee Regional Park during the FSU XC Open, Wildschutt recorded the fourth fastest time ever in the men’s collegiate 8k on the course.
The Meet
The men’s 8k Garnet race will feature runners from 40 schools:
- 1 Northern Arizona
- 2 Notre Dame
- 5 BYU
- 7 Colorado
- 8 Arkansas
- 17 Wake Forest
- 20 Florida State
- 22 Alabama
- 24 Texas
- 25 Weber State
- 28 Ole Miss
- 30 Charlotte
- Arizona State
- Auburn
- Bradley
- Bucknell
- CBU
- Central Arkansas
- Charleston Southern
- Cincinnati
- Duke
- Florida
- Georgetown
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Kentucky
- Liberty
- Miami (Ohio)
- Montana State
- North Florida
- Northeastern
- Ohio State
- Princeton
- Rice
- Santa Clara
- South Alabama
- Tennessee
- UCLA
- Utah Valley
- Wyoming
The women’s 6k Garnet race will showcase runners from 34 teams:
- 5 Colorado
- 10 Utah
- 11 Arkansas
- 12 North Carolina
- 14 Ole Miss
- 15 Florida State
- 16 Northern Arizona
- 24 Georgetown
- 27 Kentucky
- 28 Toledo
- Arizona
- Arkansas State
- Auburn
- Boston College
- CBU
- Central Arkansas
- Duke
- Elon
- Florida
- Illinois
- Kansas
- Kansas State
- Liberty
- Miami (Ohio)
- Montana State
- Ohio State
- Tennessee
- UC Davis
- UCF
- UCLA
- Utah Valley
- Wake Forest
- Weber State
- Wyoming
The men’s Open 8k will include runners from the following schools:
Arizona / Arkansas State / California / UC Davis / Daytona State / Elon / Florida Atlantic
Florida Gulf Coast / Florida International / Kansas / Kansas State / Lake Sumter State / Louisiana Tech
Mobile / Morehead State / Northern Kentucky / Richmond / St. Leo / Stetson / South Florida
Tallahassee CC / Toledo / Troy
The women’s Open 6k will consist of runners from the following teams:
Alabama / Arizona State / Bucknell / California / Cincinnati / Delaware / Florida Atlantic
Florida Gulf Coast / Florida International / Georgia / Jacksonville / Lake Sumter State / Louisiana‐Monroe
Louisiana Tech / Mobile / North Florida / Northeastern / Northern Colorado / Northern Kentucky
Richmond / South Alabama / South Florida / Southern Mississippi / Tallahassee CC / Texas / Troy
The Last Time Out
FSU sent its top runners to compete in the Joe Piane Invitational on Oct. 1 in Notre Dame, Indiana to preview the ACC Championship course on Oct. 2.
At the Joe Piane Invitational, the men finished fourth overall spearheaded by Wildschutt’s third straight victory of the season with a 5-mile time of 23:06.7. Ahmed Muhumed finished not far behind in seventh with a time of 23:36.7. Overall, the men’s team finished fourth, ahead of No. 2 Notre Dame among other USTFCCCA ranked opponents.
The women recorded a team seventh-place finish led by Lauren Ryan in 20th who ran the fastest 5k of her career with a time of 16:43.3.
Florida State also competed at the Alexander Asics Invitational on Oct. 3. The Noles earned two top three finishes at the Alexander Asics Invitational through many personal best times.
Redshirt freshman Zach Cloud won the men’s 8k with a time of 25:09.23 while two other Seminoles, Colby Otero (25:38.09) and Matt Owens (25:45.52), finished seventh and 12th, respectively.
The women’s team was led by Rebecca Bergnes who claimed bronze in the 5k with a time of 17:44.30. She was followed by Ella Swigler (18:35.83) in 11th and Dani Thompson (18:36.21) in 12th to secure a second place team finish.
For more information on Florida State cross country, follow Twitter @FSU_Track and Instagram @FSU_Track.
