September's early Hurricane canceled a previously scheduled UNF XC Invitational meet leaving an open date for the Florida State College at Jacksonville cross country team's.
The men and women's cross country teams added the Whistling Death 5k in Green Cove, FL to the schedule. The event was held on the back roads and runways of a World War 2 era airbase that was previously the home for the F4u Corsair squadrons.
FSCJ runners Julio Rodriguez and Lynn Winkler were the overall male and female winners. Rodriquez finished with a time of 17:29, while Winkler lead with 21:58. Christian Mayfield and Zahir Miller competed in the 14-19 year old age group and both came out on top. Roger Arias finished 1st in the 20-24 year old age group and Gershom Allen also received 1st place honors in the 25-29 year old age group.
"Every year a storm disrupts our schedule." said FSCJ's head cross country coach Jody Hale. "We were lucky to find a race to fill the gap left from the hurricane. There were some excellent performances today by Christian Mayfield, Ashton Curl, Nathan Davis and Tytiyonna Nesmith. All of them set new personal records (PR's) today.
FSCJ travels next Saturday to the Embry-Riddle Cross-Country Classic in Daytona Beach, FL. This event is held on one of the most challenging cross country courses in Florida. The men's 8k is set to begin at 7:20 a.m., followed by the women's 5k at 7:50 a.m.