Legends Compete at Southeastern

LAKELAND, Fla. - The Florida College Men's and Women's Cross Country teams competed at the Southeastern Fire Invitational at Holloway Park on Saturday morning.  

The women's team placed 4th of five in a 5k race against Palm Beach Atlantic, Southeastern University, Pasco-Hernando State, and Lake-Sumter State. Sophomore Whitney Mathis was the first runner for the Lady Falcons with a 21st place finish and a 5k time of 24:44.0. Florida College took the next four places with Katherine Raif in 22nd, Sierra Griffith in 23rd, Lillian Hamlett in 24th, and Sophia Raif in 25th.  

The men's team placed 6th of six in an 8k race against the same competitors, with Florida Tech as an addition. Freshman Easton Dial took first place for the Falcons and finished 20th overall with an 8k time of 29:45.2. Junior Jesse Boyd took 32nd followed by Josiah DeGeneffe in 33rd, Gustav Looper in 37th, and Steven Ritchie in 38th. 

"I am fairly pleased with how we opened up today. It's still very early, and we held out four of our guys due to injury, but I saw some good things. For freshman Easton Dial to finish in the top third of the field and go under 30 minutes on a slow course in his first 8k race was impressive. Gustav Looper was also a pleasant surprise to be our 4th man today," said head coach Trenton Roth. "For the women, I was happy to see our top six runners all within less than a minute of each other, which is a nice tight pack and team split. We had two newcomers, Whitney Francis and Katie Raif, out front for us today and finished right in the middle of the field. The course was very wet and soft and slippery today, so the times were all slow, but most of them ran well all things considered." 

The Legends compete next at the Embry-Riddle Eagles Cross Country Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla. On September 16th. The men's team will start at 7:20 am and the women will begin at 7:50 am.