Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Finish Strong at Mountain Dew Invite

Saturday, September 22

Gainesville, Fla.

7:30 AM

Florida Atlantic

Mountain Dew Invitational

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Finish Strong at Mountain Dew Invite

9/22/2018 10:27:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's XC/Track & Field

Men's Results Women's Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country teams competed in the Mountain Dew Invitational hosted by the University of Florida on Saturday morning. Individually, the Owls had two runners record top-10 times in school history and 12 set new career best times.

QUICK HITS – WOMEN(5K)

The women's team finished 12th among 27 teams with 329 total points in the meet.
Mikaela Jonsson was the top finisher for the Owls, coming in at a new personal best time of 18:17.93 for a 35th place finish. Jonsson's time ranks 10th on the all-time 5K finishes in FAU history.
Bethany Hardcastle was the next Owl to cross the finish line. She also beat her personal best time, clocking in at 18:39.11 for 49th place.
Other personal bests were Megan Giovanniello (18:56), Nicole Megrath (19:30), Brooke Butterfield (19:40), Christina Humphries (20:01), Morgan Sharp (20:02), Lauren Macon (20:17) and Natalie Ippolito (21:34).

ALEX SMOLKA'S TAKE ON THE WOMEN'S TEAM
"Today we had 11 runners finish the race and nine of those set new PRs. We had some freshmen really step up and help the team, and with a slightly make-shift lineup, we were still able to perform pretty well. The team knows the best is still ahead of us and they are willing to put the hard work in, to strive towards their goals. Mikaela ran the 10th best time in program history, which is very exciting and bodes well for things to come."

QUICK HITS – MEN(8K)

The men's team recorded a ninth place finish out of 22 teams with 310 total points.
Lachlan Shiver finished the race in 25:44.11 which is the fourth fastest time in school history also topping his career best time for a 27th place finish.
Sean Barone also beat his previous personal best time with a 26:51.08 finish for 67th place.
Jonathan Werble clocked in at 27:09.00 for a 75th place finish.
Nolan Meuret recorded a new personal best with a time of 28:40.93.

ALEX SMOLKA'S TAKE ON THE MEN'S TEAM
"Anytime our top two runners are able to run new PR's, it's a good day, especially when on them (Lachlan Shiver) runs the fourth fastest time in school history. However, our student-athletes are still capable of running faster and we'll have two weeks of training before our next test at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, North Carolina. We're excited to see how we'll look on October 6."

UP NEXT
The women's team will participate in the FLRunners.com Invitational in Lakeland, Florida on September 28. Both the men's and women's teams will run in the Great American XC Festival on October 6 in Cary, North Carolina.

For complete coverage of FAU cross country and track & field, follow along on Twitter (@FAU_XC_Track) or Instagram (@FAUXC.TF).