Cross Country Competes Against Competitive Slate at FSU Pre-Nationals

Friday, October 15

Tallahassee, Fla.

8 AM

Florida Atlantic

FSU Pre-Nationals

2019 FAU Cross Country @ FAU Cross Country Invitational

Photo by: ©JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Cross Country Competes Against Competitive Slate at FSU Pre-Nationals

10/15/2021 1:54:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's XC/Track & Field

Women's 6K Results Men's 8K Results

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men's and women's cross country teams took part in competitive races at the Florida State Pre-Nationals Invitational. Schools from the likes of Tennessee, Georgia, Florida State and Colorado competed in the race with the women's team finishing in 21st out of 29 teams and the men tallying 29th. Madlen Kappeler led the women with 71st (22:32.7), while Preston Dunn took 151st (26:44.0) to become the first Owl finisher on the men's side.

Quick Hits

Women (6K)

Kappeler had the fastest time for the team for the third time this season with a 22:32.7 mark to log 71st place out of 277 finishers
Jordan Stevens was the next Owl finisher in 185th place (24:10.4)
Morgan Sharp (24:20.4) and Paige Saiz (24:21.4) followed in 188th and 189th, respectively
Casey O'Connor wrapped up the FAU top five in 212th (24:47.1)
The Owls' 21st finish with 622 points was one point better than Florida Gulf Coast who consequently finished right behind the Owls in 22nd

Men (8K)

Dunn continues to lead the Owl men, placing 151st out of 256 runners this morning with a time of 26:44.0, a season best
Jericho Cooey was the next FAU finisher with 229th place (28:50.2)
Rory Carmody followed in 240th (29:54.3)
Bodey Miller finished with a new personal record of 30:20.2 for 245th place
Matthew Labrato was the fifth Owl finisher in 248th place with a personal record of 30:50.2
The men's team finished in 29th place out of 31 teams with 828 points

Coach Smolka's Thoughts

"Life is a journey not a destination and today we took a nice step forward to where we want to go," said head coach Alex Smolka. "Both teams improved significantly compared to four weeks ago. Most of our runners executed their race plans much better. Particularly on the women's side, we were able to hunt down and catch people during latter stages of the race, which is an excellent sign for the future! Overall it was a good day and progress was made!"

Upcoming

Both teams will now prepare for the 2021 Conference USA Cross Country Championships, taking place on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 10 a.m. at Frank Liske Park in Concord, North Carolina.

Owls on Social Media

For complete coverage of FAU cross country and track & field, follow us on Twitter (@FAUXCTF), Instagram (@FAUXCTF) and Facebook (FAU XC/Track & Field).