Cross Country Concludes C-USA Championships

Women's Final Results
Men's Final Results

HOOVER, Ala. – The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up the fall slate on Saturday morning at the 2020 Conference USA Cross Country Championships. The women's team earned sixth place (169 points) with just two points behind fifth-place finisher UAB. This became the team's best finish at a C-USA Championship in school history. Madlen Kappeler led the way with 11th place (21:52.07) and Marisha Thompson followed in 20th (22:31.67) to both earn nods to the C-USA All-Conference Team. On the men's side, the team finished in 11th (298 points).

Coach Smolka's Take

On the Women:
"I would like to thank the administration for all of their hard work helping us pull of this COVID-shortened cross country season," said head coach Alex Smolka. "I'm extremely proud of this group of young women! They followed guidelines, endured all of the uncertainty, trained hard and competed very well. We are very happy, but certainly not content with our team's finish. I know we are only just beginning. Our top five runners included one senior. The future looks bright! Having two runners make the all-conference team is awesome, and finishing higher than ever before entering C-USA is also great. This result is a true testament that hard work does pay off!"

On the Men:
"Our men's team gave a very valiant effort today at the C-USA Champs!"

Quick Hits – Women (6K)

The Owls' sixth-place finish is the team's best placing at a C-USA Championship since joining the league in 2013
Kappeler finished in 11th with a time of 21:52.07. Her time earned her an All-Conference selection for the second consecutive year
Thompson tallied 20th place with a personal record time (22:31.67) to make a spot on the All-Conference Third Team as a freshman
Paige Saiz was the third Owl to cross the finish line with 42nd place and a personal record time of 23:20.00
Analise Davis tallied 44th place at her first C-USA Championships (23:26.54)
Lauren Macon and Morgan Sharp finished in 53rd (23:38.88) and 58th (24:01.70), respectively

Quick Hits – Men (8K)

Preston Dunn led the charge for the men with a time of 26:37.65 and 45th place
Cristian Moreno recorded 57th place (27:19.38)
Sean Barone finished in 63rd place with a time of 27:50.89
Nolan Meuret (28:18.60) and Jericho Cooey (28:46.63) finished in 64th and 69th place, respectively

Upcoming

FAU will announce the indoor and outdoor track & field schedule at a later date.

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Calendar

Upcoming Events

Players Mentioned

Sean Barone

Jericho Cooey

Analise Davis

Preston Dunn

Madlen Kappeler

Lauren Macon

Nolan Meuret

Cristian Moreno

Paige Saiz

Morgan Sharp

Marisha Thompson

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Event: Men's Cross Country versus American Conference XC Championships on November 1, 2025 at TBD

Upcoming Event: Men's Cross Country versus NCAA South Championships on November 14, 2025 at TBD

Florida Atlantic University Athletics