By Jake Henning
Assistant Sports Editor
The FGCU men’s and women’s cross country teams finished up their race Saturday morning, their last race before getting ready for the ASUN Championships.
This day was headlined by Austin Redondo and Lucas Kiprotich, both setting new marks in the record books for FGCU.
Both landed a spot within the top 100, with Kiprotich breaking the record for 8k held by assistant coach Arego Cruz with a time of 24:32.8 to finish 46th overall.
“The conditions were ideal for running fast times and I’m so happy that they had a shot to do that,” said head coach Cassandra Goodson. “For our top six to come out 25:37 or faster is incredible. More importantly, all of them had great attitudes after the race. They help each other out on the course and ran their hearts out to the end.
For the women, Emily O’Connor clocked in at the fastest time with 19:32.3 to give her 81st place overall. Three seconds behind her was Jillian Felton who placed 88th with a time of 19:35.5. These would be the only to women to be in the top 100 for FGCU.
“It was a little warmer for the women’s race but I really liked how they competed. They really helped each other on the course,” said Goodson. “They are all excited to get back home and the way the training program is designed, they will definitely have their best race going into the ASUN meet.”
The FGCU cross country teams will be back when they take on the ASUN Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the FGCU Buckingham Complex.