Men total 39 points in victory, women tallied 42 points in runner-up finish.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Gators Cross Country team concluded their second meet of the 2023 season, and first on the road, on Friday with a first-place finish in the Men’s 8k and a second-place finish in the Women’s 5k.
After finishing third at the Mountain Dew Invitational two weeks ago, the men came to the course hungry for an even stronger performance. Early in the race, the Gators put themselves in position to strike when they had the opportunity. The team had a strong hold of the second place spot up until the 6k mark, where they were able to take the lead and hold it for the remainder of the race.
The Gators were led by Ethan Geiger, who made his collegiate Cross Country debut at the FSU Invitational in 2020. Geiger finished first overall in the race with a time of 24:42.10. His top placement was courtesy of a late push as he took hold of the number one spot in the last kilometer of the race. In addition to Geiger’s impressive performance, his Gator teammates logged strong races of their own. Joe Wester, Aiden Villasuso, Javi Vento and Matt Mule’ all finished in the top 20 and scored for the team. Additionally, Michael Fiore and Josh Stern were able to hold off opposing finishers with placements of 23 and 43, respectively.
The men finished the contest with a point total of 39.
Just after the conclusion of the men’s race, the women took to the 5k course. After obtaining the second-place spot early in the race, the group maintained strong control of their position as they ran in a tight pack with few opponents separating Florida teammates.
Running in her first race in 2023, Lucinda Rourke was the first Gator to cross the finish line as she completed the race in 17:24.00. The following four Florida finishers ended the race in pairs. Liina Winborn and Sayla Donnelley placed seventh and eighth while Jordan Shapiro and Rylee Pustilnik earned eleventh and twelfth. This marks the second consecutive meet in which all women scorers finished in the top fifteen.
The women accumulated 42 points during Friday’s action.
POINTS FROM PALMER
“Our men and women both took very positive steps forward today. The most exciting thing about today is how we executed. This meet was all about finding things we could clean up with our racing process and making those adjustments. Both teams made some great changes and I’m excited to see how we can build on this in the coming weeks.”
RESULTS
Men’s Team Finishes
Place
Team
Points
1
Florida
39
2
Embry-Riddle
75
3
Florida Southern
82
4
Tampa
114
5
South Florida
178
6
Miami
213
7
LSU
215
8
Florida Gulf Coast
268
9
Auburn Montgomery
278
10
Huntington
278
Individual Finishes – Men’s 8k
1) Ethan Geiger – 24:42.10
3) Joe Wester – 24:52.50
9) Aiden Villasuso – 25:05.60
12) Javi Vento – 25:08.80
17) Matt Mule’ – 25:20.10
23) Michael Fiore – 25:26.70
43) Josh Stern – 25:42.60
47) Orlando Cicilioni – 25:46.20
65) Mac Wright – 26:02.20
Women’s Team Finishes
Place
Team
Points
1
LSU
27
2
Florida
42
3
FIU
106
4
Tampa
110
5
Miami
170
6
Palm Beach Atlantic
222
7
Florida State
241
8
Florida Southern
259
9
South Florida
260
10
Nova Southeastern
294
Individual Finishes – Women’s 5k
4) Lucinda Rourke – 17:24.00
7) Liina Winborn – 17:41.90
8) Sayla Donnelley – 17:45.70
11) Jordan Shapiro – 17:53.00
12) Rylee Pustilnik – 17:53.10
20) Olivia Jones – 18:15.00
21) Breanna Stuart – 18:15.70
60) Annie Loehle – 18:56.00
74) Stephanie Ormsby – 19:07.10
183) Allison Drummond – 20:39.90
UPCOMING ACTION
In two weeks, the Gators will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to participate in the Nuttycombe Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin for their final regular season meet of 2023.
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