No. 2 Florida State at FSU Invitational
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Apalachee Regional Park cross country course was the big winner on Friday night at the 41st annual FSU Invitational as record-setting marks were posted by the women in the first race on the upgraded course.
Florida State junior Colleen Quigley led a parade of teammates through the downhill finishing chute, shattering the previous 5,000-meter course record by 35 seconds with a winning time of 16:55.53. Quigley was the first of five consecutive FSU teammates to finish, leading to a perfect, 15-point winning team total for the Seminoles.
Quigley was the leader of that charge as the group moved through the pack with Hannah Walker (2nd, 16:59.95), Linden Hall (3rd, 17:04.20) and Georgia Peel (4th, 17:09.49) in tow.
Racing from the gun, freshman Anna Holdiman bounced back from a sub-par performance at Notre Dame to nab fifth place (17:30.39) and complete the sweep. Jessica Butler, who also raced the entire way, was seventh (17:36.25), while Carly Thomas was ninth (17:37.42) and Chelsi Woodruff finished 10th (18:10.25). Thomas was also part of the workout group.
No. 4 Duke at Royals XC Challenge
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Duke competed in the Royal XC Challenge on Friday, placing second in the Division I competition with a score of 44 points. In similar fashion to last year’s Royal XC Challenge, the Blue Devils placed all five of their scorers in the top 20. The top-five Duke competitors also finished within 48 seconds of one another.
A total of four Division I teams toed the line on the 5,000-meter cross country course, located in McAlpine Creek Park. South Carolina (20) placed first in the Division I competition, while Charleston Southern (74) placed third and Presbyterian (113) rounded out the four teams competing in the Division I race. The Blue Devils’ averaged a time of 18:16.12 for the competition.
Competing in her second meet of the season, junior Colleen Schmidt led the Blue Devils with a third-place overall finish. Hailing from Point Lookout, N.Y., Schmidt clocked a personal-best time of 17:46.2. Schmidt’s time bested her previous personal record by over ten seconds.
Senior Dana Morin, also appearing in her second meet of the season for Duke, recorded a personal-best time of 18:03.2 and finished fifth overall. Morin improved on her 11th-place performance at last year’s Royal XC Challenge. Morin also bettered her previous personal-record time of 18:06.0.
