The men's team wanted to bounce back from a disappointing finish at the Notre Dame Invitational and it did.
Florida's men placed second at the FSU Invitational, finishing two spots ahead of No. 28 FSU, and had one runner finish in the top-five.
Sophomore Michael Anderson finished in fifth place after running the 8K in 25:33.32. Anderson was named The Gainesville Sun's Boys' Cross Country Runner of the Decade on Friday.
"Michael took a big step forward," coach Todd Morgan said. "It was a step in the right direction to get the men back on track."
The team placed second behind only Stephen F. Austin, which won both the men's and women's races.
Alex Wills recorded a personal-best time of 25:40.21, finishing behind Anderson in sixth place. Geoffrey Anderson, Carlos Phillips and John Mitchell all placed in the top 40. Phillips and Mitchell, who run the 800m during the track season, also recorded personal bests.
The No. 9 women's team placed fourth during the invitational. Stephen F. Austin came in first, No. 11 FSU came in second and Tampa came in third. FSU's Jennifer Dunn finished in first place with a time of 17:41.43.
UF junior Ali Crabb finished fourth, and freshman Sydney Devore came in sixth. Crabb, who has recently been fighting off an illness, ran the 5K in 17:54.15, her fastest time of the season.
"The women competed hard and ran well," Morgan said. "It is a huge step for us in preparing for Regionals and Nationals."
Freshman Mandy Perkins was the third Gator to cross the finish line and placed 14th in her first collegiate race, recording a personal-best time of 18:40.44.
Freshmen Callie Cooper, who came in 32nd place and recorded a personal-best time, and Erica Taltos finished in 39th.
Morgan said he wanted to run younger athletes during this race to give them chances to run a race before the Southeastern Conference Championship at the end of October. He also plans to have a few of the runners who did well at the FSU Invitational run during the SEC meet.
Both teams will travel to Terre Haute Ind., for the Pre-NCAA Invitational on Saturday. There will be two men's 8K races and two 6K women's races. The meet will be a chance for the teams to prepare for the NCAA Championship since that meet will also be run on the same course in Terre Haute.
