Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Wrap Up Blazer Invitational

Friday, October 18

Birmingham, Ala.

9 AM

Florida Atlantic

Blazer Classic

2019 FAU Cross Country @ FAU Cross Country Invitational

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Wrap Up Blazer Invitational

10/18/2019 12:13:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's XC/Track & Field

Women's Results
Men's Results

MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country teams were back in action this morning to take on the Blazer Invitational hosted by UAB. The women's team finished 13th out of 24 teams with Madlen Kappeler leading the way in 23rd out of 215 runners. On the men's side, Lachlan Shiver broke his previous school record in the 8K once again with a time of 24:54.54 for 28th place. The men came in 12th overall out of 21 teams.

Coach Smolka's Take

On the Women:
"Today was good day," said head coach Alex Smolka. "We had 10 runners, who all had PRs and set a new school record for our lowest average time for our top five runners. We ran on a course and conditions similar to what we will experience in two weeks time at the C-USA Championships! As good as things went today, we haven't reached our potential yet, so there are still things we would like to accomplish. We are on a journey and the future looks bright! On top of everything, Madlen [Kappeler] competed in her first ever 6K and ran our program's third fastest time!"

On the Men:
"All of our men ran hard and competed very well. Lachlan [Shiver] became the first Owl in the history of the program to break 25 minutes, so he is looking very good to have a great race at the C-USA Championships. Preston [Dunn] is now one of the fastest in program history, and our other guys are progressing very well! We have two weeks to get ready for an even tougher and hillier course in Bowling Green, Kentucky at the C-USA Championships. We are excited for what is to come!"

Quick Hits – Women

Each of the Owls' 10 runners set new FAU personal records Friday morning with several surpassing their 6K times from the UCF Invitational by over a full minute
The top five finishers broke a new school record, which was previously set at this year's FAU Invitational for the fastest combined time
In the first 6K race of her collegiate career, Kappeler was the top Owl finisher. Her time of 21:35.45 is now the third fastest time in program history
Jordan Steven became the next Owl to cross the finish line at 77th place (22:30.57). Mikaela Jonsson (22:34.10) and Megan Giovanniello (22:42.02) finished 79th and 84th, respectively to round out the top 100 finishers
Lauren Macon (23:13.00) broke the personal best time she set three weeks ago by over 1:11, to finish at 100th

Quick Hits – Men

Five runners set new personal records in the 8K with several doing so by beating their previous times by over a minute
Shiver broke his previous school record by 11 seconds to become the top Owl finisher in 28th out of 179 runners
Freshman Preston Dunn etched his name in the FAU top 10, crossing the finish line in 60th place (25:57.24) to capture the sixth fastest men's 8K time in school history
Cristian Moreno was the next Owl finisher, crossing the line at 26:47.11 for a new personal record and 89th place
Jericho Cooey (27:26.00) and Djery Clement (29:02.83) tallied personal best times, finishing in 112th and 137th, respectively. Rory Carmody finished in 136th with a time of (28:57.72)

Up Next

With the Owls wrapping up their regular season slate of meets this morning, they will gear up for the Conference USA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2 at 10 a.m. in Bowling Green, Kentucky. For complete coverage of FAU cross country and track & field, follow along on Twitter (@FAU_XC_Track) and Instagram (@FAUXC.TF).