The University of Florida rebooted their invitational cross-country meet as the annual Mountain Dew Invitational in 2005, but for the first fifteen years Florida State University never had a men's team at the party. That changed on Friday morning, 18 September 2020, when the Seminoles opened their cross-country season in Gainesville, Florida at the sixteenth annual Mountain Dew. It was quite the debut, as Florida State's men put up a mathematically unbeatable 19 points to win the meet, while the Seminole's Paul Stafford took first in the 8K race over the Mark Bostick Golf Course in 24:45. Georgia Tech dominated the women's 6K, with the Lady Yellow Jackets scoring a winning 25 points behind the first place showing of Tech senior Nicole Fegans, who went 20:51.For the first half of the men's 8K, Stafford ran tucked back in the lead pack. During the second half of the race, Stafford and fellow Seminole Gabriel Curtis broke away from the field. Stafford ultimately left Curtis behind, winning the race 24:45 to 24:52. Ethan Geiger, a Florida frosh, took third with a 25:09.
But the rest of the Seminoles were right behind Geiger. Sophomore Jacob Holmes was a close fourth in 25:10, and Florida State junior Caleb Pottorff edged Georgia Tech junior James Cragin for fifth, 25:15.5 to 25:15.6. Frosh Anderson Denton finished the scoring for Florida State, placing seventh in 25:18 and giving the men in garnet and gold a winning total of 19 points. Tech was second with 53 points and Florida third with 68. Miami, led by the sixteenth place 25:52 performance of Hurricane sophomore Andrew Madden, was fourth with 110 points.
Men's Team Standings, 2020 Mountain Dew Invitational
- Florida State, 19
- Georgia Tech, 53
- Florida, 68
- Miami, 110
Top Ten Athletes, 2020 Mountain Dew Invitational Men's 8K
- 24:44.9, Paul Stafford (Florida State) JR
- 24:51.3, Gabriel Curtis (Florida State) FR
- 25:08.2, Ethan Geiger (Florida) FR
- 25:09.3, Jacob Holmes (Florida State) SO
- 25:15.5, Caleb Pottorff (Florida State) JR
- 25:15.6, James Cragin (Georgia Tech) JR
- 25:17.7, Anderson Denton (Florida State) FR
- 25:20.5, Angel Vicioso (Florida) SO
- 25:24.2, Humberto Freire (Florida State) SR
- 25:25.3, Nick Nyman (Georgia Tech) SO
Nicole Fegans of Tech didn't waste any time hanging around with the rest of the athletes in the women's 6K, taking an early lead. Fegans was up by as much as 60 meters during the race, but Florida State sophomore Rebecca Clark began to narrow that margin late in the race. Fegans neverthless made it across the finish line in first, running 20:51 to Clark's 20:58. Florida State junior Addison Coggins was third in 21:01.
Florida State and Georgia Tech split the rest of the top ten, with the Seminoles putting junior Ella Swigler sixth in 21:16, frosh Alyson Churchill ninth in 21:37, and frosh Caitlyn Wilkey tenth in 21:40. But the Yellow Jackets had junior Liz Galarza fourth in 21:09, senior Mary Claire Solomon fifth in 21:15, junior Mary Kathryn Knott seventh in 21:22, and sophomore Claire Mortitz eighth in 21:31, which mean that Tech had 25 points and the team title. The Florida State women were second with 30 points.
Miami was third with 83 points, giving the top three places to Atlantic Coast Conference teams. With only four finishers, hosts Florida had no team score. It was the first time since 2013 that the Lady Gators had failed to win the meet, and only the second time in Mountain Dew Invitational history. Coincidentally, the only other Gator loss had also been the only other year that the women had raced 6K instead of 5K at the Invitational.
Women's Team Standings, 2020 Mountain Dew Invitational
- Georgia Tech, 25
- Florida State, 30
- Miami, 83
- Florida, NTS
Top Ten Athletes, 2020 Mountain Dew Invitational Women's 6K
- 20:50.3, Nicole Fegans (Georgia Tech) SR
- 20:57.2, Rebecca Clark (Florida State) SO
- 21:00.3, Addison Coggins (Florida State) JR
- 21:08.9, Liz Galarza (Georgia Tech) JR
- 21:14.6, Mary Claire Solomon (Georgia Tech) SR
- 21:16.0, Ella Swigler (Florida State) JR
- 21:21.4, Mary Kathryn Knott (Georgia Tech) JR
- 21:30.9, Claire Moritz (Georgia Tech) SO
- 21:36.3, Alyson Churchill (Florida State) FR
- 21:39.5, Caitlin Wilkey (Florida State) FR
| Mountain Dew University of Florida Invitational Cross-Country Meet Champions 2005 - 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's 8K | ||
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
| 9 September 2005 | Florida, 15 | 23:54, Henok Lechebo (Florida) |
| 16 September 2006 | Florida, 15 | 24:23, Jeremy Criscione (Florida) |
| 7 September 2007 | Florida, 15 | 24:49, Enoch Nadler (Florida) SR |
| 20 September 2008 | Florida, 15 | 24:39, Jeremy Criscione (Florida) SR |
| 18 September 2009 | Florida, 20 | 24:22, Evans Kirwa (Embry-Riddle) FR |
| 18 September 2010 | Florida, 22 | 24:40, Josh Izewski (Florida) JR |
| 24 September 2011 | Michigan, 42 | 24:36, Craig Forys (Michigan) |
| 15 September 2012 | Florida, 28 | 24:09, Jeremy Criscione (Unattached) |
| 14 September 2013 | Florida, 33 | 23:54, Jimmy Clark (Florida) JR |
| 20 September 2014 | Georgia Tech, 41 | 24:05, Mark Parrish (Unattached) |
| 19 September 2015 | Alabama-Huntsville, 65 | 24:49, Eddie Garcia (Florida) SR |
| 24 September 2016 | Florida, 22 | 25:07, Carlos Miranda (Florida) SR |
| 23 September 2017 | North Florida, 52 | 24:31, Gilbert Boit (Tennessee Tech) SO |
| 22 September 2018 | Florida A & M, 25 | 24:12, David Too (Florida A & M) JR |
| 14 September 2019 | Florida, 40 | 25:24, Nathan Jubran (North Florida) SO |
| 18 September 2020 | Florida State, 19 | 24:45, Paul Stafford (Florida State) JR |
| Women's 5K | ||
| Date | Team Champ | Individual Champ |
| 9 September 2005 | Florida, 44 | 17:17, Allison Mascas (Tampa) |
| 4 October 2006 | Florida, 26 | 17:37, Lindsay Sundell (Florida) |
| 7 September 2007 | Florida, 19 | 17:37, Sonja Friend Uhl (Unattached) |
| 20 September 2008 | Florida, 17 | 17:35, Genevieve LaCaze (Florida) FR |
| 18 September 2009 | Florida, 18 | 17:26, Charlotte Browning (Florida) JR |
| 18 September 2010 | Florida, 41 | 17:34, Joane Pierre (Jacksonville) SO |
| 24 September 2011 | Florida, 30 | 17:06, Genevieve LaCaze (Florida) SR |
| 15 September 2012 | Florida, 15 | 17:14, Agata Strasua (Florida) JR |
| 14 September 2013 | Tennessee, Auburn, 71 | 20:46, Kelly Perzanowski (Florida Gulf Coast) SR |
| 20 September 2014 | Florida, 35 | 16:46, Lauren Brasure (Florida) FR |
| 19 September 2015 | Florida, 31 | 17:22, Rebakah Greene (Florida) SO |
| 24 September 2016 | Florida, 30 | 16:55, Anne-Marie Blaney (Central Florida) SR |
| 23 September 2017 | Florida, 88 | 17:10, Eden Myer (North Florida) SR |
| 22 September 2018 | Florida, 60 | 16:14, Jessica Pascoe (Florida) JR |
| 14 September 2019 | Florida, 30 | 16:55, Jessica Pascoe (Florida) SR |
| 18 September 2020 | Georgia Tech, 25 | 20:51, Nicole Fagans (Georgia Tech) SR |
| The women's race was six kilometers in 2013 and 2020. | ||
It was perhaps the smallest Mountain Dew Invitational ever, with only four schools represented in each race. The course had been re-routed due to flooding from Hurricane Sally. There would be no national championship meet at the end of the season; that had been canceled by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic was also why the University of Florida hadn't hosted any sports events since March. But the athletes at the 2020 Mountain Dew Invitational still came to race. Many of them would come to race again two weeks later on 2 Ocotber 2020 at the Florida State Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Florida.
Links
- Complete results of the University races at the 2020 Mountain Dew Invitational Cross-Country Meet
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vRp8me4zuIABsc8UJoo7yCt6MJFgpDVsi87GJuFE3OIITQs94PYdHTWNJiv7Jl718pYExxYZ-P4e3zr/pubhtml
- Course maps for the 2020 Mountain Dew Invitational Cross-Country Meet
- Men's 8K: https://app.box.com/s/cz5we8mjp90duz66gbnhex9xv12hutdp
- Women's 6K: https://app.box.com/s/sl45azfxc8km7lqbzp25095203hmbdd0
No comments:
Post a Comment