The University of Florida men’s and women’s cross country teams won the 20^th Annual Mountain Dew Invitational on Saturday, marking the fourth consecutive year the Gators have taken first.  The women captured the top spot in the 5K race with 17 points, while the men won the 8K with 15 points.

 

The Gator women took the first three places in the meet.  Freshman Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) began her career on the right foot by winning her first-ever collegiate race in a time of 17:34.79.  She landed in the fifth spot on the Gator Invitational top times list and third in the UF record books for fastest Gator on the UF Golf Course in a 5K race.  Sophomore Ali Crabb (St. Petersburg, Fla.) placed second, bumping up her career-best on the UF Golf Course to 17:36.99, which places fifth in the record books.  Senior Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) took the third spot with a time of 17:53.36.

 

“It’s really neat to see Genevieve [LaCaze] get off to such a great start,” Cross country coach Todd Morgan said.  “We were really excited about her coming to Florida and we knew she was going to be a great addition to the team.

 

Florida placed eight runners in the top 10 as senior Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) finished fifth (18:07.61), sophomore Kaitlin Shiver (Satellite Beach, Fla.) took sixth (18:14.49), senior Julie Northrup (Vero Beach, Fla.) placed seventh (18:16.67), sophomore Laura Garrow (Port Orange, Fla.) finished ninth (18:19.33) and sophomore Charlotte Browning (West Sussex, England) came in at number 10 (18:20.88). 

 

On the men’s side, senior Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla.) earned his second career first-place and seventh top-10 finish in a time of 24:38.75.  He was followed by six of his teammates, as the Gators placed nine runners in the top 10.  Junior Matt Hensley (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) set a new career-best time with a second-place finish in 24:55.76 and classmate Sean Blaney (Kissimmee, Fla.) came in third in 25:00.24. 

 

“We saw some huge breakthroughs on the men’s team,” Morgan said.  “Jeremy Criscione continues to do great things.  It was a huge breakthrough for Matt Hensley, which is great to see because he is a hard-working, blue collar guy.  It’s great to see his hard work pay off.”

 

Freshman Josh Izewski (Doyleston, Pa.) recorded a fourth-place finish in his first collegiate race in a time of 25:15.94.  He was followed by junior Aaron Kindt (Orlando, Fla.) in fifth (25:18.54), redshirt freshman Geoffrey Anderson (Williston, Fla.) in sixth (25:31.37), senior Chris Mullaney (Atlantic Beach, Fla.) in seventh (25:41.64), senior Al Matheny (Gainesville, Fla.) in ninth (25:51.00) and redshirt freshman Michael Anderson (Williston, Fla.) in 10^th (25:54.18).

 

For complete results of the Mountain Dew Invitational, including the high school races, place visit www.gatorzone.com/crosscountry.

 

The Gators will compete next in the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind., on Friday, Oct. 3 at 2 p.m.

 

Women’s Top 10 Team Results

 

1. Florida	17
2. South Florida	79
3. Tampa	95
4. Jacksonville	118
5. Central Florida	142
6. Miami	195
7. North Florida	202
8. Florida Atlantic	204
9. Nova Southeastern	255
10. Florida Gulf Coast	320

 

Women’s Top 25 Agate and Additional Florida Finishers

1. Genevieve LaCaze, Florida, 17:34.79; 2. Ali Crabb, Florida, 17:36.99; 3. Sara Petrick, Florida, 17:53.36; 4. Jessica Forrester, Tampa, 17:57.16; 5. Jacy Kruzel, Florida, 18:07.61; 6. Kaitlin Shiver, Florida, 18:14.49; 7. Julie Northrup, Florida, 18:16.67; 8. Yasmin Smith, South Florida, 18:17.77; 9. Laura Garrow, Florida, 18:19.33; 10. Charlotte Browning, Florida, 18:20.88; 11. Nicole Rozario, South Florida, 18:31.37; 12. Elsabeth Goshu, Jacksonville, 18:33.60; 13. Alysha Duffy, Tampa, 18:35.73; 14. Lindsay Lucas, Florida Atlantic, 18:41.45; 15. Hillary Adams, North Florida, 18:47.07; 16. Shantil Blackburn, Central Florida, 18:50.47; 17. Alyssa Deal, Jacksonville, 18:52.77; 18. Jen Wynands, South Florida, 18:57.46; 19. Kyrstal Porter, Nova Southeastern, 18:58.23; 20. Katie O’Brien, Tampa, 19:00.21; 21. Daniela Espino, Florida International, 19:02.30; 22. Allie Prendergast, South Florida, 19:03.12; 23. Susann Klungveit, Jacksonville, 19:09.04; 24. Christina Johnston, South Florida, 19:13.09; 25. Allison Palmer, Central Florida, 19:13.55; 33. Kathryn Kramer, Florida, 19:28.23.

 

Men’s Top 10 Team Results

 

1. Florida	15
2. North Florida	123
3. Florida International	132
4. Nova Southeastern	139
5. Tampa	142
6. Florida A&M	151
7. Florida Atlantic	165
8. South Florida	188
9. Miami	241
10. Florida Gulf Coast	258

 

Men’s Top 25 Agate and Additional Florida Finishers

1. Jeremy Criscione, Florida, 24:38.75; 2. Matt Hensley, Florida, 24:55.76; 3. Sean Blaney, Florida, 25:00.24; 4. Josh Izewski, Florida, 25:15.94; 5. Aaron Kindt, Florida, 25:18.54; 6. Geoffrey Anderson, Florida, 25:31.37; 7. Chris Mullaney, Florida, 25:41.64; 8. Shuaib Winters, Florida A&M, 25:45.97; 9. Al Matheny, Florida, 25:51; 10. Michael Anderson, Florida, 25:54.18; 11. Taylor Reeves, Florida Atlantic, 25:55.72; 12. James Uthmeier, Florida, 25:56.30; 13. Jeff Palmer, Nova Southeastern, 25:57.68; 14. Johnathan Esteban, North Florida, 26:01.89; 15. Alex Phipps, Unattached, 26:02.89; 16. Daquam Lee, Florida A&M, 26:04.02; 17. Lee Stephens, Running Center Team, 26:04.44; 18. Tony Nicolosi, Tampa, 26:04.81; 19. Drew Smith, Florida, 26:13.01; 20. Alex Schanen, Florida, 26:15.38; 21. Alex Wills, Florida, 26:21.52; 22. Chris Catanach, Tampa, 26:22.99; 23. Kyle Butler, Unattached, 26:28.75; 24. Mike Hensley, Unattached, 26:33.07; 25. Javier Beuzeville, Saint Leo, 26:34.09; 40. Daniel Manco, Unattached, 27:04.84.