Cross Country Hits Course at Blazer Classic

Friday, October 16

Hoover, Ala.

9 AM

Florida Atlantic

UAB Blazer Classic

2019 FAU Cross Country @ FAU Cross Country Invitational

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

10/16/2020 2:12:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's XC/Track & Field

Women's Final Results
Men's Final Results

HOOVER, Ala. – The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country teams took part in their first race of the 2020 season at the Blazer Classic hosted by UAB on Friday morning. The women's team placed 10th in the gold division and were led by Madlen Kappeler, who captured sixth place, while achieving the second best 6K time in school history. On the men's side in the 8K open division, Preston Dunn led the charge to help the team finish in sixth place.

Coach Smolka's Take

"Our teams had not raced since last November with a few exceptions for those who ran indoor track in February," said head coach Alex Smolka. "So everyone had not competed for anywhere from nine to 11 months! That's the longest layoff for our entire roster in their running careers since middle school. Given those circumstances, we raced very well. It was certainly a 'rust buster' type of race. The best analogy I can think of is that people always say a football team improves the most from game one to two. I think we are going to be similar this year. We will tackle the same course again in two weeks from now at the C-USA championships. Therefore, what we learned today is invaluable experience for the champs."

On the men's side, we were led by a sophomore and two seniors, while on the women's side we had a sophomore and two freshmen in the top three. The future looks bright! Individually, Madlen [Kappeler] had a great opening race, running the second fastest 6K time in school history. We now have 14 days to regroup and put what we learned today to good use at the C-USA champs."

Quick Hits – Women (6K)

Kappeler was the top Owl finisher, crossing the finish line with a personal best time of 21:11.38, which is also the second best 6K time in program history. She got within the top-4 after the 3K split and stayed steady in that position through the conclusion of the race. The redshirt sophomore beat runners from the likes of Clemson, Louisville, South Carolina and Auburn
In her first race as an Owl, freshman Marisha Thompson finished in 22:51.69 for 42nd
Freshman Analise Davis (23:20.88) was the third Owl to cross the finish line in 54th and was followed by Paige Saiz (23:27.56), who took 57th in her first race with FAU
Senior Lauren Macon finished in 65th (23:42.03) with Morgan Sharp (24:03.47) and Jordan Stevens (24:15.67) following in 74th and 77th, respectively
The team finished in 10th place with a score of (211), just an eight point difference from ninth-place UAB

Quick Hits – Men (8K)

Dunn made up solid ground in the race to lead the men's team with a 32nd place finish (27:07.17)
Seniors Cristian Moreno (27:09.16) and Sean Barone (27:10.58) directly followed Dunn, finishing in 33rd and 34th, respectively
Nolan Meuret kicked off his senior campaign on the right foot, compiling a new personal record of 27:47.62 to place 43rd
Jericho Cooey placed in 50th (28:25.57), while Rory Carmody crossed the line at 54th to achieve a new personal record time of 28:39.71
The team finished in sixth place with 143 points, which was a four-point difference from Point University, who finished in fifth

Upcoming

The Owls will compete at the 2020 C-USA Championships on Saturday, Oct. 31 and will run the same course FAU raced this morning.

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