NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The RV/RV Florida State cross country teams competed at the historical Joe Piane Invitational on Friday morning at the Notre Dame Golf Course.
Running in ideal conditions, the women’s team finished in fifth place with a total of 175 points, just behind four top 10 teams that included No. 1 NC State (55), No. 3 New Mexico (68), No. 10 Alabama (70) and No. 8 Notre Dame (146).
The Seminoles finished ahead of No. 27 Oregon State (256) and every other team that received votes in the week three USTFCCCA poll.
“The ladies absolutely showed up to compete today,” FSU women’s distance coach Baylee Mires said. “To place fifth at this meet with so many top contenders in the country is an incredible place to be. I’m really excited about the momentum we are building as a group and we can’t wait to compete again in two weeks at Wisconsin.”
Eight of the nine Noles that raced turned in personal best times at the 5K distance, led by Emmy Van den Berg, who crossed the line in 17th place at 16:24.7. Alyson Churchill followed shortly behind in 22nd (16:33.9) and Agnes McTighe took 35th at 16:49.2.
Yasmine Abbes finished 51st (17:05.5) and Caitlin Wilkey followed in 53rd (17:07.0) to round out the scoring five. Rebecca Pottorff (17:14.8) and Rebecca Bergnes (17:15.5) were included in FSU’s top seven, finishing in 68th and 69th place.
Churchill, McTighe, Pottorff, and Riley Bahr (17:31.8) all turned in their fastest Notre Dame Golf Course 5K times.
Fearghal Curtin continued to shine, leading the Noles in the men’s 5-mile race at 23:24.7 for fifth place.
Curtin started the race in the lead pack and paced with the top runners throughout the entire 5-mile run.
Zach Leachman turned in his best 5-mile race time, finishing in 49th place (24:11.5) followed by Cooper Schroeder in 59th (24:16.0), who also ran his best time.
Paul Stafford (24:21.3) finished in 65th place and Zach Cloud rounded out the scoring five in 89th at 24:34.36.
As a team, the Seminoles finished in 11th place with a score of 267 points.
“It was a tough one for our guys,” FSU head coach Bob Braman said. “Jacob (Holmes) got knocked down and Gabe (Curtis) lost a shoe, all in the first third of the race. Fearghal was truly outstanding today. That performance was a top 10 national performance for him. As a team, we have to learn from this experience and be on our game at Wisconsin.”
FSU will return to Tallahassee to host the FSU Invite on…