The Florida cross country team sent its top runners to the UVA Invitational Friday where they finished sixth in the women’s 6K and ninth in the men’s 8K.
Senior Jessica Pascoe (20:14.5) was the star of the meet, beating all competitors in the women’s 6K and winning her second meet in a row. Pascoe is coming off a first place finish at the Mountain Dew Invitational two weeks ago and assistant coach Chris Solinsky was proud of his runner’s performance.
“Today we saw Jess (Pascoe) take a big step toward some of her goals for the season and year,” he said in a release. “She executed very well especially having dealt with some sickness recently.”
Junior Payton Capes-Davis (21:47.2) was the next Gator to finish for Florida at 34th and redshirt senior Elisabeth Bergh (22:00.0) followed in 40th.
No. 11 Michigan State had nine runners finish in the top 20 to secure the win for the women and give the Gators a taste of what they can expect as they compete against more top programs throughout the season.
In the men’s 8K, redshirt sophomore Matt Clark (25:22.8) and redshirt junior Blake Lowery (25:26.7) led the team, coming in 55th and 59th, respectively.
The hosting No. 22 Cavaliers came away with the victory and had five runners finish in the top 10. Despite none of the men finishing in the top 50, Solinsky is optimistic going forward.
“Training is still going very well, so if we learn from today, I like how we are looking,” Solinsky said in a release.
The rest of the Florida cross country team is in Orlando, where it will compete in the UCF Knights Invitational at 6 tonight.
Follow Joseph Salvador on Twitter @JSalvadorSports. Contact him at jsalvador@alligator.org.
Jessica Pascoe won her second-straight event for the Gators on Friday.
