Cross Country Ready for Race at Gans Creek Classic

Friday, October 1

Columbia, Mo.

10 AM (9 AM CT)

University of North Florida

Gans Creek Classic

Gans Creek meet graphic with men's runners

9/30/2021 2:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Stream Live Timing

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida will continue their cross country season when they head up to Columbia, Mo. for the Gans Creek Classic on Friday, Oct. 1 at 10 am ET.

LAST TIME OUT

In the men's team last outing, they travelled to Tallahassee, Fla. to compete in the FSU XC Open and brought home a seventh-place finish. Senior Nathan Jubran was the top runner for the Ospreys finishing 22nd place at the meet and senior Noah Perkins finished right behind Jubran in 29th place. Freshman Seth Martinez ran the fastest time out of all the Osprey newcomers and was voted the ASUN Freshman Runner of the Week for his performance in Tallahassee.

For the women's team, they finished 13th place at the FSU XC Open and had two runners inside the top 100. Junior Raquel Lespasio, who finished 71st, and Mia McLain, who finished 74th, led UNF in their first race of the season. Sophomore Billie Castillo, senior Sadie McLaughlin, and senior Chelsey Oliver rounded out the top five Osprey runners at the meet. Isa Leen was the top freshman for the team at FSU, as the Netherlands native finished 134th.

MAKING STRIDES

Jubran will look to get into the record books again with another top-10 time after running the eighth-best 8k time in program history at Florida State. The men will bring back sophomore Jake Turner for his first appearance of the season after missing the FSU XC Open. The reigning ASUN Freshman of the Year will look to impress at the Gans Creek Classic after placing second in the CSU Invitational and sixth in the ASUN Championship meet this past spring.

The women's lineup will return everyone that raced in the FSU XC Open to begin the season. They will also be adding on senior Camryn Cooney, who will be returning after she missed the season-opening meet. Cooney was the top runner at the CSU Invitational this past spring, which was also the second-best 5k time ran by any Osprey last season.

NOTABLE OPPONENTS

In the men's race, there will be six top-15 teams ranked in the Midwest region, including the host team Missouri and fifth-ranked Texas A&M from the South Central region. There will not be any conference opponents to face in this race for UNF, but they will be racing against sixth-ranked Belmont, who are three spots ahead of the Ospreys in the South region.

On the women's side, they will be competing against Texas A&M, who is ranked third in the South Central region, alongside four other ranked teams from the Midwest region. The 11^th-ranked Belmont team will be the only team in the South region that the Ospreys will face in this event.

EVENT SCHEDULE

The men's 8k invitational race at the Gans Creek Classic will take place at 10 am (ET)/9 am (CT). The women's 6k invitational race will start shortly after at 10:45 (ET)/9:45 (CT). The men's team will be running 13 participants, while the women's team will bring out 12 participants for each race on Friday.

UP NEXT

After Friday's meet in Missouri, the Ospreys will head back down south where they will return to Tallahassee, Fla. for the FSU XC Invitational/Pre-Nationals race on Friday, Oct. 15 at 8 am.

PIGG'S POINTS

"The University of Missouri has built one of the best ACC courses in the country. They host the SEC Championship this year and will host the NCAA Championship in 2024. We were at the Inaugural meet in 2019 and are thrilled to be heading back to Columbia. Coach Halter and his staff are excellent hosts, and we are excited for a great trip.

It's always good to go back home to Missouri since I attended from 1982-84 and coached there throughout the 1990s. It's also amazing how much progress the institution has made since 2000.

Both teams have worked hard the past two weeks and we are very excited to race again to see how we match up against a great field of teams from the Midwest region. We'll have Jake Turner back and all of our guys are looking good. Camryn Cooney, who didn't race the first meet, is also back and ready to roll." -- head coach Jeff Pigg