Women's Cross Country No. 10 in South Region
10/19/2009 5:48:11 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
"Being regionally ranked in Division I is a milestone for our program and for it to happen in our first year of eligibility, reaffirms what we believe about this team and the individuals that comprise it,” said head coach Mark VanAlstyne. “They are a very young team of exceptional student-athletes, who know how to win and have won at every level they've been at.”
With the signing of its first cross country scholarship athlete in January 1983, UNF began building a competitive intercollegiate program in cross country.
The Osprey women's cross country team took to the opportunity created 26 years ago. Starting out in NAIA to being a full-fledged Division I member, the women have started a new journey with their achievement of being regionally recognized for the first time.
“Now, we have to take that winning spirit and teach them how to win at this, the highest level of college athletics,” commented VanAlstyne. “It's a great beginning, but we can't lose sight of the fact that our ultimate goal is to move on from being competitive within the South Region to being competitive nationally."
The women boosted their ranking to tenth with their first place finish at the Sodexho Stetson Hatter Invitational on Friday Oct. 16, in
The men's team raised their stakes in being ranked with their third place finish behind East Tennessee State, who is currently ranked 13th in the South Region, and NAIA's third ranked national team, Embry-Riddle.
The cross country team putting together first and third place finishes in the Hatter's Invitational gives the team momentum heading into the Atlantic Sun Championships on Oct. 31, in
