Ospreys Announce Fall 2021 Cross Country Schedule
8/17/2021 3:25:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's and women's cross-country teams will each be competing in three regular season meets before the ASUN Championship in Orlando, Fla. on Oct. 30.
Last season, the men's team placed first in two of their three meets, while the woman's team finished in the top three in all three meets. With 14 returning runners for the men's team and 10 returning runners for the woman's team, both squads have their sights set on the conference championship and will push to make a run during the NCAA postseason meets in November.
"We're looking at good quality meets with a high-caliber group of guys," head coach Jeff Pigg said about this year's men's team. "On the women's side, our whole thing is trying to continue the momentum that we had last year."
Both Osprey teams have different backgrounds coming into this season. Senior Nathan Jubran was the top individual runner at all three meets for the men's team last season and was an individual qualifier at last spring's NCAA Championship meet. Jubran will look to lead UNF to back-to-back conference championships and four titles over the last seven years.
On the women's side, each race had a different top individual runner for the team. Senior Camryn Cooney and sophomore Mia McLain, along with senior Grace Gumpel, hope to bring the women's team their first conference championship since 2017.
"We have a good core group of women back and I think that'll be a really good team," said Pigg. "It'll be exciting to see how we stack up this season as this team continues to improve."
One of the biggest takeaways from the schedule is that the Ospreys will race twice at Apalachee Park in Tallahassee during the regular season, which is the host site for the NCAA Championships this season. This is where they will start their season on Sept. 17, when they run in the FSU XC Open.
They will then head to Columbia, Mo. on Oct. 1, for their meet at the Gans Creek Classic. This will be their second appearance in the past three seasons, where the men finished fourth and the women finished fifth out of the 10 teams for each meet in 2019.
On Oct. 15, the Ospreys will head back to Tallahassee for the second time at the FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals meet. This will be their fourth appearance in five years at the FSU Invite after their one-year hiatus last season since they did not compete during the fall season.
Just a couple weeks afterwards, UNF will travel to the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex to race against their conference opponents in the ASUN Championship meet in Orlando, Fla. on Oct. 30. The men will look to defend their title, while the women hope to improve from their third-place finish from last season.
After the conference championship meet, the teams head to Huntsville, Ala., Nov. 13, for their NCAA Regional matchup. It will be just their second out-of-state race of the season, with their first one being in Missouri at the Gans Creek Classic.
The NCAA Championship meet takes place Nov. 21, in Tallahassee, Fla. Jubran will attempt to make back-to-back appearances at this meet and improve from his 75th individual finish this past spring.
Last season, the men's team placed first in two of their three meets, while the woman's team finished in the top three in all three meets. With 14 returning runners for the men's team and 10 returning runners for the woman's team, both squads have their sights set on the conference championship and will push to make a run during the NCAA postseason meets in November.
"We're looking at good quality meets with a high-caliber group of guys," head coach Jeff Pigg said about this year's men's team. "On the women's side, our whole thing is trying to continue the momentum that we had last year."
Both Osprey teams have different backgrounds coming into this season. Senior Nathan Jubran was the top individual runner at all three meets for the men's team last season and was an individual qualifier at last spring's NCAA Championship meet. Jubran will look to lead UNF to back-to-back conference championships and four titles over the last seven years.
On the women's side, each race had a different top individual runner for the team. Senior Camryn Cooney and sophomore Mia McLain, along with senior Grace Gumpel, hope to bring the women's team their first conference championship since 2017.
"We have a good core group of women back and I think that'll be a really good team," said Pigg. "It'll be exciting to see how we stack up this season as this team continues to improve."
One of the biggest takeaways from the schedule is that the Ospreys will race twice at Apalachee Park in Tallahassee during the regular season, which is the host site for the NCAA Championships this season. This is where they will start their season on Sept. 17, when they run in the FSU XC Open.
They will then head to Columbia, Mo. on Oct. 1, for their meet at the Gans Creek Classic. This will be their second appearance in the past three seasons, where the men finished fourth and the women finished fifth out of the 10 teams for each meet in 2019.
On Oct. 15, the Ospreys will head back to Tallahassee for the second time at the FSU XC Invite/Pre-Nationals meet. This will be their fourth appearance in five years at the FSU Invite after their one-year hiatus last season since they did not compete during the fall season.
Just a couple weeks afterwards, UNF will travel to the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex to race against their conference opponents in the ASUN Championship meet in Orlando, Fla. on Oct. 30. The men will look to defend their title, while the women hope to improve from their third-place finish from last season.
After the conference championship meet, the teams head to Huntsville, Ala., Nov. 13, for their NCAA Regional matchup. It will be just their second out-of-state race of the season, with their first one being in Missouri at the Gans Creek Classic.
The NCAA Championship meet takes place Nov. 21, in Tallahassee, Fla. Jubran will attempt to make back-to-back appearances at this meet and improve from his 75th individual finish this past spring.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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