Men's Cross Country Takes Second at ASUN XC Championships

Saturday, October 28

Nashville, Tenn.

11 a.m.

University of North Florida

ASUN XC Championships

Aidan O'Gorman and Robert Pedroza racing at ASUN meet

10/28/2023 6:30:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Team Results Individual Results

Aidan O'Gorman Finishes as Runner-Up, Pedroza Joins as First Team Selection

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - North Florida men's cross country made its mark with a fourth consecutive top-two finish to place as the runner-ups of the ASUN XC Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Aidan O'Gorman led the way for the Ospreys with a runner-up placement in the 8k race with a time of 24:17.85. Robert Pedroza joined O'Gorman in the top five at 24:34.60 in the race, as both earned First Team All-ASUN honors at the meet.

Cole Perry jumped up the leaderboard during the final two checkpoints to be the third Osprey scored in 12th overall at 24:49.65. He garnered Second Team All-ASUN honors, while Ilias El Khattabi and Onix Ortiz Vazquez earned Third Team All-ASUN honors with finishes among the top 21 runners. El Khattabi also joined Paul Lespasio as two of the five ASUN All-Freshman runners from the race.

FINISH LINE

O'Gorman placed second overall in a race where he jumped from 13th to fourth overall between the 2480m and 4600m checkpoints.
Pedroza clocked in his third top-five placements this season, as he also climbed up the leaderboard throughout the meet and held a steady pace through all 8000m.
Perry stepped up as a sophomore in the race to run a sub-25 minute 8k and earn 12th for the Ospreys, which was a huge factor in receiving the second-place team finish.
El Khattabi earned a top-20 finish at the ASUN meet in 17th overall at 25:01.06, followed by Ortiz Vazquez just outside the mark in 21st overall at 25:14.29.
Paul Lespasio and Aiden Arnold also had good races for UNF with top-30 finishes with times of 25:20.98 and 25:24.91 respectively.
William Sinclair had a great start to end up in 34th overall, while Seth Martinez and Kameron Wallizada rounded out the Ospreys' group in the top 50.

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Great showing by the Osprey men at the @ASUN_TFXC Championship! ????#SWOOP pic.twitter.com/nDmtNpeJgc
— UNF X-Country/T&F (@OspreyXCTF) October 28, 2023

PIGG'S POINTS

"Our guys did a great job today. This is a tough league and it was quite a race. I'm very proud of how they competed. Our plan was to go out conservative and run the second half of the race strong. We were patient and closed well. With 8-10 minutes left in the race, we were in third with 20 points behind host Lipscomb and I began to think we had errors with tactics, but they stormed the last mile. Aidan [O'Gorman] ran another great race. It was probably his best XC race ever. He was patient and confident. He showed great strength and he finished strong. Robert [Pedroza] just continues to have a great season. He ran tough and really stepped up big for the team. I'm very proud of the jump he has made this season. Cole Perry also stepped up big for us. He has done a great job this year, but that was huge. He is well prepared and a tough competitor. Ilias [El Khattabi] continues to get in top form as the season progresses. He competed very well and pushed through the pain to be our fourth man. Onix [Ortiz Vazquez] just keeps rolling in good races. He has upped his game and the work is paying off, as he continues to be a steady top runner for us."
-- head coach Jeff Pigg