Florida Atlantic University Athletics
FAU Cross Country Treks to Melbourne for Saturday Meet
9/8/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country squads hit the road for the first time this fall, to take part in Saturday morning's Florida Tech Cross Country Invitational in Melbourne.
The men's team will be one of 14 competing, while the women will have 16 opponents on the course at Wickham Park. The men's race will be an 8K, beginning at 7:30 a.m., with the women going to the start line at 8:15 for a collegiate 5K.
All 14 men's teams will also compete on the women's side. In addition to the Owls and the host Panthers, the other dozen squads taking part in both races are Ave Maria, Edward Waters, Embry-Riddle, Flagler, FIU, Florida Southern, Nova Southeastern, Rollins, Saint Leo, South Florida, Tampa and Truett-McConnell. Those programs only sending a women's side are Lynn, Palm Beach Atlantic and St. Thomas.
Head Coach Alex Smolka will send the entirety of his men's roster (Luke Dewlow, Conor Fitzgerald, Felipe Gomez, John Marting, Cory Moogerfeld, Johanny Przygocki, Ross Rabalais, Lachlan Shiver, Samek Tekie and Jonathan Werble) and 12 women's runners to Melbourne (Delsie Borgen, Jessica Brinson, Brooke Butterfield, Sophia Clark, Olnick Duverge, Cianna Gopie, Shannon Grace, Kali Hazera, Christina Humphries, Erica Lersch, Emily Ludwig and Mary Tulin).
"On the women's side we are excited to see our newcomers compete this Saturday," said Smolka. "They got their first experience of collegiate racing this past Friday at our home meet, so this weekend, we'll be able to see how they are able to compete on the road. We are looking forward to seeing some continued improvements. On the men's side, this Saturday's race will be their first 8k (five miles) of the season. So it will give us a much better indication on how their summer training went, and what shape everyone is in. It will also be the first time we compete at the FIT invitational, so it will be exciting to race at a new venue."
Stay tuned for race results here on FAUSports.com on Saturday.
Players Mentioned
