Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Disney Invitational Next Stop for Cross Country
10/2/2007 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Oct. 2, 2007
BOCA RATON, FL - Florida Atlantic University's women's cross country team will travel to Orlando to compete in the Disney World Invitational this weekend.
FAU enters the meet off several impressive individual performances at the Notre Dame Invitational, where five runners set personal records. Head cross country coach Alex Smolka said that the prestige of the meet was not lost on his runners.
"The excitement of knowing how big a meet it was definitely helped our performance," said Smolka.
The meet is recognized as one of the biggest regular season meets in the country and FAU's participation was a conscious decision.
"We had to decide whether we wanted to go a smaller meet and try to win the team title or go to a meet like (Notre Dame) and be in the middle of the pack. We decided to gain experience against nationally-ranked schools."
The Owls will try to duplicate the success they had at last year's meet, where the men finished 14th and the women finished 5th. This year, FAU's focus will be more on individuals.
"This year, we're taking runners who haven't had as many chances to run and see if anyone is able to step up and make the roster for the conference championships."
The Disney World Invitational men's 8K begins at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, followed by the women's 5K at 8:45 a.m.
