Cross Country to Participate in NCAA South Regional Championships

Nov. 12, 2014

Boca Raton, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Tallahassee, Fla. to participate in the NCAA South Regional Championships hosted by Florida State on Friday, Nov. 14. The women will race in a 6k beginning at 9 a.m., and the men will follow with a 10k at 10 a.m. with both races being held at Apalachee Regional Park.

"We are excited for the culmination of our 2014 cross country season, and we look forward to seeing how we stack up against the top programs in the region," said Alex Smolka, head coach. "Meets like this truly go a long way in building a successful future for the program."

Teams competing: 31 women's teams and 27 men's team will compete in the championship. On the women's side, this includes nationally ranked FSU and Vanderbilt along with other top programs in the region such as Alabama, Lipscomb, Mississippi State, and Middle Tennessee. The men will also face nationally ranked FSU along with regional opponents that include Mississippi, Auburn, Georgia Tech, and South Alabama.

Previous meet: Women's cross country made history again at the 2014 Conference USA Championships when they posted their lowest 5k team average in school history with a time of 18:31.1. The Owls finished one spot higher than last year, coming in ninth place out of 13 teams. Freshman Liz Wellman was FAU's top finisher, coming in 30th with a career-best time of 18:12.8. This time puts her in seventh place on FAU's All-Time Top 10 List. Veteran Tara Cripe followed in 33rd place with a final time of 18:15.4, which is her best finish of the season. This marks the senior's first record this year on FAU's All-Time Top 10 List with the eighth fastest time in the 5k. Freshman Amelie Svensson and Kia Heller-Spencer both set personal records, coming in 41st (18:34.7) and 46th (18:40.0), respectively.

Josh Peterson was the Owls' top finisher on the men's side, finishing in 42nd place with a final time of 25:58.4. This is the first time the senior has come in under 26 minutes in the 8k and marks the fifth best time on FAU's All-Time Top 10 List. Senior Adam Simon was the next finisher for FAU, claiming 67th place with a final time of 27:38.6. Rounding out FAU's runners were Matthew McFall, Josh Nicholas, Connor Bergin, and Djery Clement. The men finished in 11th place with 306 total points and a team average time of 28:06.4.

History: Marla Keyes was FAU's only competitor in the 2013 NCAA South Regional Championships. Keyes came in 127th with a time of 22:25.9.

Results: Full results will be available upon completion of the meet on FAUsports.com. You can also follow the action on Twitter using hashtags #NCAAXC and #d1south

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