GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Southern College women's cross country team sent a portion of its student-athletes to the Mountain Dew Invitational Friday morning in Gainesville, Fla., while the rest of the team traveled to Montevallo, Ala. to compete in the Falcon Classic Friday evening. The six-member squad in Gainesville competed against a loaded field of NCAA Division I talent and came away with a 12
th-place finish, second among NCAA Division II programs.
Senior
Emery Roth led the contingent with a 95
th overall finish in the 139-member field. The Atlanta, Ga. native crossed the finish in 20:00.7 on the three-mile course. Just five spots back, sophomore
Caitlin Beery stopped the clock at 20:09.4 to garner 100
th-place in the race. Sophomore
Rachel Hockenberry was the next Moccasin to cross the line as she took 110
th with a mark of 20:30.6.
Junior
Jinia Johnson and graduate student
Carolina Titus paced each other to 120
th and 121
st-place finishes with Johnson clocking in at 21:18.7 while Titus finished a few seconds behind at 21:30.5. The final Moc on the course was junior
Emily Opalinski who secured 131
st overall while crossing the line in 22:42.7.
The host University of Florida took home the championship with a total of 38 points followed closely by Southeastern Conference rival Vanderbilt at 42 points. Georgia Tech rounded out the top-three with 62 total points. The top NCAA Division II program was Flagler who came in fifth overall with 132 points while the Mocs took 12
th at 362 points. FSC finished ahead of two teams including Florida International (363 pts.) and Bethune-Cookman (444 pts.). Allison Wilson, a junior from the University of Florida, won the individual championship as she completed the course in 16:38.7.
The rest of the Moccasin squad will be in action this evening in Montevallo, Ala. at the Falcon Classic. The University of Montevallo will also be hosting the 2023 NCAA South Region Championship later this season so the Mocs will get an early look at the course prior to championship season.
