Men's and Women's Cross Country Each Ranked #5 in Preseason Poll

The men's and women's cross country teams experienced a historic moment for their programs this week.  Both teams earned a #5 ranking in the NJCAA Division II cross country preseason poll.  This is the highest preseason ranking ever for either team.  The men's team is coming off a solid performance at the FAU Invitational where they took the team title against NCAA Division I schools.  The Falcons put five runners in the top 20 of the field, with a gap of only 32 seconds between their top runner and their fifth runner.  The top five runners score for the team in cross country.  "It's nice to be recognized on the national level, and we will use this as motivation to just get better every week." commented Head Coach Judy Wilson.  

On the women's side, the team has six returners from last year's squad, five of whom have national meet experience.  Giovana Meade has experienced the most improvement from last year, running almost three minutes faster than her first meet last year.  "Gigi is just at a different level than she was last year, and she and Shannon run very well together.  They are very different runners, but that can actually be a good thing during training and racing." Wilson commented.  The Falcons finished ninth last weekend at the FAU Invitational out of 18 teams, with Jones and Meade placing in the top 20 of the field of 178 runners.  "We had a big gap between our top two and our next three runners due to some heat issues, but we will regroup and focus on our next race," Wilson said. 

Next up for the Falcons is the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, AL on September 15th.