In the final tune-up before the A-SUN Championships in two weeks, the FGCU cross country teams posted strong outings as the men's side took home first place with the women's team garnering second overall Friday evening.
"Despite hurricane Michael preventing us from traveling to Tallahassee as previously planned, both Eagle teams were hungry and ready to compete today at the USF Invitational," said head coach Cassandra Goodson. "While the teams saw 1st and 2nd place finishes overall, the best part of the trip was the positive attitudes and camaraderie displayed by the athletes, despite having a change of race plans last minute. The positive character shown by each of the athletes makes the success that much sweeter! I would also like to thank all the family, friends and alumni that came out to support the teams. It really lifts us up."
On the men's side, the squad scored five runners in the top-15 to beat out the eight other Division I programs for the title. Sophomore Lucas Kiprotich paved the way for the Eagles crossing the finish line with a time of 26:42.12. Kiprotich – who already has a pair of top-2 finishes this season – claims his first individual overall victory of the year.
Right behind the newcomer was senior runner Ronny Greenup (27:07.36) placing fifth in the D-I field, followed by another newcomer in sophomore Boniface Mutai who recorded a time of (27:41.38) coming in eighth.
Freshman Austin Redondo was the next Eagle to score with a mark of 28:06.77 in 12th as fellow freshman Bryce Bell capped off the scoring for FGCU, etching a time of 28:28.09 for a grand total of 41 points for the Eagles as they took home their second title of the year – claimed the FAU Invite to start the season.
In addition, sophomore Joseph Salerno finished 16th with a time of 28:30.99, redshirt freshmnn Leonard Kipruto finished 25th with a time of 29:02.43, junior Jan Figueroa finished 30th with a time of 29:20.47 and freshman Bradyn Ricca finished 38th with a time of 30:05.60 as they rounded out the top-40 out of the 51 D-1 runners in the field.
Overall, the men claim their second USF Invitational title with the last one coming back in 2014 and their second first place finish of the season
On the women's side, senior Carley Lutzow took home the USF Invite individual title with a blistering time of 17:36.54. It was just one second over from her season-best time she set at the FAU Invite (17:35.56) in which she also claimed first. With Lutzow setting the tone, the next four runners to score for the Green and Blue would all finish in the top-30 for an overall team score of 94 points in the D-1 group. In three meets this year, the Illinois native has finished each race in the top-3, taking first overall twice.
Coming in 17th was fellow senior Angela Cruz Gonzalez with a time of 19:33.67.
Newcomer Bridget Schoffman was right on her heels with a mark of 19:36.32 for 19th overall. A senior on the team, Schoffman was a former member of the FGCU women's soccer team in 2015 before suffering a soccer career-ending injury.
FGCU's final scorers were capped off by a pair of freshmen in Jillian Felton and Emily O'Connor. Felton crossed the finish line 27th (19:50.05) while O'Connor snagged 30th place (19:58.23).
Freshman Julia Filip and junior Ciara Frame (22:05.11) went on to finish 56th and 65th, respectively.
It becomes the women's best finish in Tampa since taking home the title back in 2015.
Up Next:
The Eagles return to the Bronx, NY in search of their first A-SUN Championship on Friday, Oct. 26 at Van Cortlandt Park, the same site when it participated in the Fordham Fiasco back in early September.
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