Men's Cross Country Finishes Second at ASUN Championship

Friday, November 1

Jacksonville, Fla.

8:45 a.m.

University of North Florida

ASUN Championships

11/1/2024 2:00:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Men's Results

Ospreys Earn Back-to-Back Seasons as Runner-Up Team

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's cross country fought hard in its home city to repeat as the runner-ups at the ASUN XC Championship on Friday morning.

The Ospreys had five total All-ASUN selections and an All-Freshman selection for a second consecutive season at the conference meet. UNF placed second in the 8k race over Lipscomb, who nearly edged out the Bisons by four points, 59-63.

Seth Martinez and Ilias El Khattabi stepped up as the leaders for UNF in the postseason, finishing consecutively in seventh and eighth overall. Cole Perry, Onix Ortiz Vazquez and Sebastian Hernandez all landed within the top 16 overall for the Ospreys, while Aaron Schimke placed 37th overall to make the ASUN All-Freshman Team.

Martinez earned his way to the All-ASUN First Team with a time of 23:57.2 to give the Ospreys their 12th first-team selection in 14 years. El Khattabi and Perry were both recognized to All-ASUN Second Team, while Ortiz Vazquez and Hernandez clocked their way into Third Team All-ASUN honors.

FINISH LINE

Martinez stayed among the top eight the entire race to finish in seventh overall at 23:57.2.
El Khattabi worked his way up the leaderboard for the Ospreys to finish side-by-side with Martinez in eighth overall at 23:57.9.
Perry move up a few spots as well over the final moments of the 8k race to clinch 13th overall at 24:08.3.
UNF totaled two or more selections for the first time since 2021 in the All-ASUN Second Team.
Ortiz Vazquez and Hernandez also placed back-to-back spots in 15th and 16th with times of 24:15.1 and 24:17.0 respectively.
Ortiz Vazquez repeated as a Third Team All-ASUN selection from his conference finish in 2023.
Paul Lespasio finished his race in 27th overall for UNF, while the ASUN All-Freshman selection, Schimke, clocked in at 25:09.3 for 37th overall.
Schimke joins Lespasio and El Khattabi with the following distinction over the past two seasons.

PIGG'S POINTS

Head coach Jeff Pigg breaks down the Ospreys' performances at the ASUN XC Championships! pic.twitter.com/dKUUKEvCPl
— UNF XC / Track & Field (@OspreyXCTF) November 1, 2024