BOCA RATON, Fla.Â
– The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country teams have been preparing all season long for the 2019 Conference USA Cross Country Championships, which take place tomorrow morning.
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The conference championships is hosted by Western Kentucky this season and will be held at a challenging course located at Spero Kereiakes Park (1220 Fairview Ave Bowling Green, KY 42103). Saturday morning's activities will commence with the men's 8K at 10 a.m. EST (map availableÂ
here) followed by the women's 5K at 11 a.m. EST (map availableÂ
here). More information on the championships can be found on theÂ
C-USA Championship page.
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- Charlotte
- FIU
- Louisiana Tech
- Marshall
- Middle Tennessee
- North Texas
- Rice
- Southern Miss (women only)
- UAB (women only)
- UTEP
- UTSA
- WKU
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FAU hosted the 2018 C-USA Championships at South Country Park last season. The women's team captured ninth out of 13 teams, bumping up one spot from the prior season.
Mikaela Jonsson finished in 34th with a 5K time of 18:33.73, while
Lauren Macon was the next returner to cross the line at 19:37.22. UTEP came away with the women's title to win their first conference championship with Linda Cheruiyot of the Miners crossing the line with a winning time 15:56.12.
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On the men's side, the team placed 10th out of 11 teams.
Sean Barone finished the 8K at 27:57.43 for 62nd place, as
Cristian Moreno (28:09.50),
Jericho Cooey (28:23.13) and
Nolan Meuret (29:15.14) followed. North Texas took home the team title and graduated senior Tom Nobles of Charlotte punched in a winning time of 23:55.84. Current junior Boaz Ronoh of UTEP finished as the runner-up (24:11.38) in the race.
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The men's and women's teams capped off the regular season on a high note at the UAB Invitational two weeks ago. Each of the 10 runners in the women's 6K set new FAU personal records.
Madlen Kappeler was the leading Owl, finishing in 23rd out of 215 runners. Her time of 21:35.45 also became the third fastest 6K time in school history.
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On the men's side, the team rounded out in 12th out of 21 teams with five runners achieving new personal records.
Lachlan Shiver broke his previous 8K school record, crossing the line at 24:54.54 for 28th place out of 179 runners. His time became the first sub-25 minute 8K in FAU history. Also making his way up the FAU ranks was
Preston Dunn, who captured the sixth fastest time in school history, punching in at 25:57.24 for 60th place.
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For complete coverage from the championships and more FAU cross country and track & field news, follow along on TwitterÂ
(@FAU_XC_Track) or InstagramÂ
(@FAUXC.TF).
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