Both the Men’s and Women’s teams secured second-place finishes in the UCF Invite to open the 2024 Cross Country schedule.
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Gators opened the 2024 Cross Country campaign with a strong showing at the UCF Invite. The Men (5k race) took a second-place team finish with 50 points, and the Women (5k race) also placed second with 51 points to start the season off right.
Breanna Stuart was Florida’s top finisher in the women’s race, claiming third with a 18:17.9 time. Freshman Ashley Fitzgerald broke into the top-10 in her collegiate debut, securing an 18:17.9 time.
Ashley Klingenberg, Christiana Coleman, and Kate Drummond rounded out Florida’s scoring.
The Men’s race saw Emerson Miller score eight team points with his 11th place finish and 15:30.0 time. All five of the Gators’ scorers cracked the top-20 finishers, as Michael Fiore (12th), Alejandro Pena (16th), Riley Novak (17) and Aidan Villasuso (18) secured a second-place team finish.
The Gators’ next race is set for September 27 when the Gators travel to Colombia Missouri for the Gans Creek Classic.
UCF Invite – Complete Results
Men – 2nd (50 points)
Women – 2nd (51 points)
Place
Name
Time
Place (score)
Name
Time
11 (8)
Emerson Miller
15:30.0
3 (3)
Breanna Stuart
18:17.9
12 (9)
Michael Fiore
15:34.5
9 (8)
Ashley Fitzgerald
18:34.0
16 (10)
Alejandro Pena
15:41.4
15 (11)
Ashley Klingenberg
18:55.7
17 (11)
Riley Novak
15:44.4
19 (14)
Christiana Coleman
19:02.6
18 (12)
Aidan Villasuso
15:47.0
20 (15)
Kate Drummond
19:02.7
25 (17*)
Gavin Nelson
15:52.7
28 (20*)
Lindsey Kiehl
19:20.0
27 (19*)
Alec Miller
16:02.3
31 (22*)
Avery Fronrath
19:30.3
28
Orlando Cicilioni
16:05.9
40
Ava Wyant
20:11.1
58
Annie Loehle
21:35.1
Team Finishes
Men
FSU (15)
Florida (50)
USF (111)
Stetson (121)
Jacksonville (159)
Bethune Cookman (225)
Women
FSU (18)
Florida (51)
UCF (80)
USF (105)
Jacksonville (141)
Stetson (182)
Bethune Cookman (223)
SCORING
* Team scores are comprised of the total points accumulated by a team’s first five runners. The team with the lowest score wins.
* Runners six and seven also figure into the scoring by occupying scoring positions that, while they do not count toward their team’s score, prevent other teams from earning the extra points. Any runner for a team beyond its seventh is removed from the team scoring, and is not considered in any successive finishers’ scoring place, noted in parentheses.
