A strong field of 14 NCAA teams, and a wet and muddy course did not deter the FSCJ Men's and Women's XC teams at the University of North this morning at the UNF XC invite.
The women's team was lead for the 2nd week by freshman Zandi Pienaar with a season's best time of 22:22.2, following closely was Lynn Winkler and Kayleigh McWatters with a big PR of 22:46, Meghan Bonser in 22:49, and Whitney Mathis in 24:18 and Abigail Gray. Zandi, Lynn, and Kayleigh are now 7th, 9th, and 10th on the top 10 list.
"Awesome racing by this team today. three ladies moving unto the Top 10 List today. I've never had that happen on the same day." commented Head Coach Jody Hale when asked about the race. "And a PR for Kayleigh, this was a great day!"
Brennan Popik led the men's team with a 28:09, followed closely by freshman Jaxon McKim with a time of 28:28.2 which catapulted him to 5th place on the Top 10 list only 2/10 of a second behind Joe Hale who is now running at Savannah State. Adrian Figueroa, Noe Benitez, Luke Williams, Nicholas Terry, and birthday boy Corey Rhoads completed the finishing order.
"We were hoping Jaxon (McKim) would break 30 minutes and make it on the Top 10 list, but he skipped the 29's and ran 28:28, that was an awesome performance in his 1st 8k. We also saw very solid efforts from Noe, Nicholas, and Corey in their 1st 8k race" added coach Hale.
Next week the BlueWave teams head to Daytona Beach to compete at the Embry-Riddle Cross-Country Classic on the most challenging XC course in Florida.