2023 Season in Review - Cross Country
12/23/2023 12:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida cross country teams paced through a formidable cross country season, closing out the 2023 season with great team and individual success. The Ospreys faced high-ranked competitors and earned exceptional performances through its season. The men's team had two top finishes as a team, as well as a pair of runner-up placements, while the women's team had their first-place finish along with three top-10 placements.
Men
Women
Men
Women
AT A GLANCE
Men
- Robert Pedroza earned his first career ASUN weekly honor following the Gans Creek Classic.
- Placed fourth overall with a personal-best time of 24:00.5 in the 8k race at the Missouri meet.
- The men earned a collective silver title after notching a top-two ranking in the Gans Creek Classic.
- Aidan O'Gorman finished first overall as an unattached individual with a time of 24:01.0 during the 8k race at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
- Second straight season with a top individual finish during cross country season.
- Placed over runners from several Power Five institutions, including Georgia Tech, Florida and Vanderbilt.
- Pedroza and O'Gorman clinched the first and second ranks at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
- The Ospreys grasped a first-place team title at the Florida Southern meet as well.
- Seth Martinez led the ranks with a time of 26:21.81 in the regular season finale.
- Kameron Wallizada notched a second-place individual ranking, while Paul Lespasio earned a third-place standing.
Women
- The women got the pace going with a phenomenal sixth-place finish in their first meet of the season.
- Ana Markovina clinched a 17:53.8 finish and earned a top-20 placement in her Osprey debut.
- Erica Fisher had vital strides that placed her just outside the top 25 with a 18:00.07 finish.
- The Osprey women clinched a 10th-place team rank in their consecutive road meet hosted by Missouri.
- Isa Leen paced the Ospreys with a top-50 placement against a series of 227 runners.
- Fisher went top 60 with a position of 53rd out of more than 200 runners.
- Emma Millson ran well to improve her lifetime best in the 6k, notching the race in 63rd overall.
- The women clinched a first-place team performance at the Florida Southern's SSC Preview Meet to close the regular season.
- Gianna Forte led the Ospreys with a top individual finish at the Florida Southern meet in the 6k at 22:42.99.
- Fisher, Leen and Millson all notched top-five rankings in the race.
CONFERENCE & NATIONAL STAGE
Men
- O'Gorman was named as ASUN Men's XC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
- He led the way for the Ospreys with a runner-up placement in the 8k race with a time of 24:17.85 at the ASUN Championship.
- Pedroza joined O'Gorman in the top five at 24:34.60 in the race.
- Both Ospreys earned First Team All-ASUN honors at the meet.
- Cole Perry was the next best Osprey runner with a time of 24:49.65 in his first conferene race to finish 12th overall.
- Ilias El Khattabi and Onix Vazquez were right behind the sophomore to place inside the top 21 for All-ASUN honors.
- The men put forth a valiant effort in the NCAA Regional meet with O'Gorman and Pedroza leading the way in the top 25.
- They both earned All-Region honors with times of 29:32.0 and 29:38.9 respectively.
Women
- Smilla Kolbe placed 17th overall for Third Team All-ASUN honors with a time of 17:42.04 in her Osprey debut.
- Markovina joined Kolbe in the top 25, as both transfers finished for UNF as the top two runners for the team.
- She finished with a time of 18:05.22, while Forte, another transfer, set a personal-best mark of 18:11.90 to rank top 30.
- Fisher, Leen, Millson and Ella Chandler were among the top 40 runners at the conference meet.
- In the NCAA Regional meet, Markovina and Forte clocked personal-best times to help UNF finish top 20 as a team.
- Both of the runners ran sub-21 minute 6k races to finish in the top 100 individuals.
- Leen placed 116th overall as the third Osprey with a lifetime best mark at 21:06.9.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
Manny Velasquez Comeback
Monday, June 25
Ospreys 2016-2017 Year-in-Review
Saturday, July 01
2017 Student-Athlete Banquet Highlights
Monday, April 24
2016-2017 UNF Student Athlete Awards Banquet - Senior Send-Off
Friday, April 21
