TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In a stacked field that included numerous nationally-ranked Division I and II programs from across the country, the Florida Southern men's cross country team impressed on Friday morning with an 11th-place finish at Florida State University's XC Open.
FSU's eight-kilometer race pitted the Moccasins against the likes of No. 5-ranked Stanford, No. 20 Furman, and No. 25 Southern Utah. Of the Division II teams at the event, Florida Southern finished behind only fifth-ranked Lee (Tenn.) and No. 11 Alabama-Huntsville. Meanwhile, the Mocs outpaced the big-name teams such as Clemson (12th) and Miami (Fla.) (22nd), and five other Sunshine State Conference opponents: Tampa (13th), Lynn (16th), Palm Beach Atlantic (18th), Nova Southeastern (23rd), and Florida Tech (25th).
Senior
Mason Jones paced himself well throughout the early portion of the 8K, which allowed him to pass competitors in bunches near the end. In 55th place at the first marker at 1,170 meters, Jones would pass 19 opponents between the 4K and 6K markers as he continued to climb the leaderboard. He was the first D-II runner to reach the finish in 18th place with a time of 24:23.5.
Joshua Wagner (25:30.3) was the next Moc to complete the course in 62nd place out of 254 total runners. He was followed by a pack of five FSC runners bunched together in less than 40 seconds, including senior
Mitchell Kozik (26:17.1), freshman
Caden Kwiatkowski (26:31.4), and junior
Alex Guy (26:35.4) in 100th, 111th, and 118th, respectively.
Florida Southern Individual Results
18.
Mason Jones – 24:23.5
62.
Joshua Wagner – 25:30.3
100.
Mitchell Kozik – 26:17.1
111.
Caden Kwiatkowski – 26:31.4
118.
Alex Guy – 26:35.4
128.
Bryson Yamnitz – 26:44.1
134.
Brady Zimmerman – 26:54.9
166.
Noah Ellenback – 27:43.1
202.
David Pautienus – 28:47.7
212.
Aiden Champagne – 29:09.1
234.
Jaylen Caneus – 30:20.5
243.
Luke Dickinson – 31:30.5
Team Results
1. Stanford – 32
2. Furman – 61
3. Florida State – 83
4. Charleston Southern – 141
5. Eastern Michigan – 143
6. Southern Utah – 174
7. North Florida – 174
8. Alabama-Huntsville – 239
9. Lee (Tenn.) – 257
10. Auburn – 271
11. Florida Southern - 325
12. Clemson – 355
13. Tampa – 399
14. Florida Gulf Coast – 428
15. Flagler – 495
16. Lynn – 517
17. Valdosta State – 545
18. Palm Beach Atlantic – 563
19. South Florida – 574
20. FIU – 601
21. West Florida – 628
22. Miami (Fla.) – 632
23. Nova Southeastern – 741
24. Florida Atlantic – 746
25. Florida Tech – 761
26. Central Georgia Tech – 763
Up Next
For the first time this fall, the Mocs visit Saint Leo, Florida, on Saturday, October 2, for the Division II National Preview. It's the first of three races at the Abbey Golf Course, as the Lions are scheduled to host the South Regional and Division II Championships this season.
