Florida traveled to Tallahassee for their second meet of the season, the FSU Invitational. The men’s squad finished fourth, while the women’s team finished seventh.
This was the third time in the past four years UF competed in this meet, which it's historically performed well at.
Florida finished fourth in the 8000m — the first race of the morning. At 5000m, junior Trevor Foley led the way for the Gators and the rest of the field, with a time of 15:14.6. Sophomore Angel Viscoso and freshman Ethan Geiger joined Foley in the top 10, at eighth and ninth, respectively. They were only about two seconds behind the leader. However, Sam Bowers of Georgia ended up crossing the finish line first . He won the race with a time of 24:07.4, contributing one point to the Bulldogs’ 56, which was enough to win the meet. Foley maintained his spot as the highest finishing runner from UF, finishing seventh overall with a time of 24:34.5. Geiger clocked in at ninth, continuing his hot start as freshmen, finishing in the top 10 in both of his collegiate years to begin his young career.
After not scoring at the Mountain Dew Invitational two weeks ago due to not running a sufficient amount of runners, the women’s cross country team finished seventh in the 5000m Friday morning. The race served as a coming out party for freshmen Vasileia Spyrou, as it was her first race in college. At 2 miles, she was one of two freshmen in the top 10, clocking in at 11:04.1. Her standing only went up from there. At the finish line, she came in eighth place, finishing with a time of 17:12.5. Mercy Chelangat of Alabama was the champion with a time of 16:50.3, although her school would come in second overall to FSU. The Crimson Tide finished with 51 points and the Seminoles with 38. Florida finished with 168 points.
The next time the Gators run is Oct.16. They’ll travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to compete in the Blazer Classic.
Contact Myles Herbert at mherbert@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @myles_herbert.
Both Gators squads finished in the top eight at the FSU Invitational Friday.
