Gators Cross Country to Host 29th Mountain Dew Invitational

The Florida Gators Cross Country team will be hosting the 29th Mountain Dew Invitational this Saturday at the Mark Bostick Golf Course. The Gators are coming off a successful meet at the UNF invitational. This Saturday will be the Gators second meet of the season and their only meet at home.

See you Saturday #GatorNation 🏃🏃‍♀️💨 pic.twitter.com/LNHfLv0TjU

— Gators Track and Field & Cross Country (@GatorsTF) September 18, 2017

Last Meet

Florida started their season at the UNF Invitational back on September 7th. The Gators finished with nine top-10 finishes between both the men and the women. The women had five while the men had four.

In the 5k race two of the Gator women, sophomore Emily Chapman and sophomore Autumn Bartlett recorded personal bests. The Gator Women ended the dual meet with two first place finishes. They put up 15 points against UNF and 24 points against Jacksonville.

On the other hand, in the 5k race for the men the Gators beat Jacksonville by 15 points, but lost to UNF by 39 points.

Mountain Dew Invitational

There will be 32 teams competing in Saturday’s meet. A few notable colleges competing Saturday are FIU, Florida A & M, UCF, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State and Miami. This will be the only meet the Gators will have at home this season.

The women will be competing in the 5k, while the men will be racing in their first 8k of the year. Having both previously ran 5k’s in the UNF Invitational.

There was originally a high school section of the meet scheduled to compete, however, due to damages from Hurricane Irma the high school section has been cancelled.

Thank you #Gatornation for another successful night of collecting items for those impacted by Hurricane Irma. #GatorGood pic.twitter.com/zYy3PWUfVJ

— The Gators Experience (@GatorsExp) September 15, 2017

Runners to watch

UNF Invitational Jessica Pasco finished second in the 5k race with a time of 18:11.12. Her 5k personal best is 17:11.24. Pasco was also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in 2016.

On the men’s side, in the UNF Invitational Marshall Dillon finished in fifth place with a time of 15:51.41. The redshirt freshmen also had the fastest time in the meet for the Gators.

The runners scheduled to run Saturday for the women’s team are: Autumn Barlett, Emily Chapman, Morgan Hull, Laura Jones, Madison Morse, Caitlin McQuilkin-Bell, Jessica Pascoe, Lauren Perry and Delaney Tiernan.

The men’s team members scheduled to race are: Jack Beitter, Nick Diaz, Marshall Dillon, Jonathan Hulzebos, Blake Lowery, Mac Macoy, Jesse Millson, Zach Purvis, Jack Rogers, Bryce Statham and Dominic Williams.

What’s Next

After the Mountain Dew Invitational, the Gators will finish the regular season at the Florida State Invitational on October 6th. Later they will compete in the SEC Championships on October 27th.

Meet Time

7:45 a.m. National Anthem

7:55 a.m. Men’s 8k

8:30 a.m. Women’s 5k

9:30 a.m. Awards Ceremony