Troy University Athletics
Saturday, September 19
Gainesville, Fla.
Troy University
at
UF Mountain Dew Classic
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Troy Cross Country Prepares for Mountain Dew Invitational This Weekend
9/18/2015 9:43:00 AM | Cross Country
GAINESVILLE, Florida – The Troy University men's and women's cross country teams will compete in the Mountain Dew Gator Cross Country Invitational this Saturday, where 40 teams will vie against each other for top honors at the University of Florida's Mark Bostick Golf Course.
The men will begin the day with an 8K race at 7:55 a.m., while the Trojan women are slated to race over 5K at 8:30 a.m. Both teams will compete in the "University" section and will be scored against other Division I teams.
"We're a little banged up with some minor injuries, but I'll be pleased if we continue to see improvement and leave the meet with better marks than we entered with," head cross country coach Elliott Blount said. "It's a big field of teams with tougher competition, so I want our runners to rise to the occasion and see their performances reflect effort and progress."
Backed by a deeper roster and a number of personal-best times set in the first two meets of 2015, the Trojans will look to improve on last year's team finishes at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
Freshman Brennan Garriques, the Trojans' top runner at the 2015 JSU Struts Season Opener, will compete this weekend after sitting out last week's Azalea City Classic to rest. In addition to Garriques, Troy will look for performances from three freshmen: Zachary Bias, Austin Gray, Kyle Norris; junior Tim Bulger; and sophomore Dylan Ogburn to put the Trojans in the hunt for a solid team score.
Freshman Brad Dixon, Troy's No. 2 at the season opener, and Ryan DeGale, the freshman who led the Trojan men to a second-place team finish in Mobile last weekend, will both take the weekend off.
On the women's team, senior Julia Ostendorf and junior Mikayla Hodges, who have traded off as the Trojans' top runners in the past two meets, will once again be in the mix to battle for the No. 1 spot.
Ostendorf enters the meet with a personal-best 6K time of 21:56, which she set in 2012 at the NCAA Division-I South Region Cross Country Championships. Hodges, who boasts a career-best of 22:16, will look to break 22 minutes at the hilly course.
They will be joined by juniors Samantha Smith and Keaton Wallace, who both set personal-best times in the 6K last weekend, sophomores Naomi Sheppard and Katrina Bokenfohr, and freshmen Sara Zylstra and Krystin Guirey.
At last year's Mountain Dew Invitational, the University of Florida women took the top three spots and won on their home turf, with the Gators' Lauren Brasure earning the individual title and setting a Florida course record of 16:45 for 5K. On the men's side, Georgia Tech University took first as its own Jeremy Greenwald outpaced the field with a runner-up finish to an unattached competitor.
Stay tuned for final results, which will be posted on troytrojans.com. Fans can keep up with the action by following Troy track and field and cross country on Twitter @TroyTrojanXC_TF and Instagram @TroyTrojansTFXC.
For more information on Troy Athletics, fans can find the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram @TroyAthletics and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TroyAthletics
The men will begin the day with an 8K race at 7:55 a.m., while the Trojan women are slated to race over 5K at 8:30 a.m. Both teams will compete in the "University" section and will be scored against other Division I teams.
"We're a little banged up with some minor injuries, but I'll be pleased if we continue to see improvement and leave the meet with better marks than we entered with," head cross country coach Elliott Blount said. "It's a big field of teams with tougher competition, so I want our runners to rise to the occasion and see their performances reflect effort and progress."
Backed by a deeper roster and a number of personal-best times set in the first two meets of 2015, the Trojans will look to improve on last year's team finishes at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
Freshman Brennan Garriques, the Trojans' top runner at the 2015 JSU Struts Season Opener, will compete this weekend after sitting out last week's Azalea City Classic to rest. In addition to Garriques, Troy will look for performances from three freshmen: Zachary Bias, Austin Gray, Kyle Norris; junior Tim Bulger; and sophomore Dylan Ogburn to put the Trojans in the hunt for a solid team score.
Freshman Brad Dixon, Troy's No. 2 at the season opener, and Ryan DeGale, the freshman who led the Trojan men to a second-place team finish in Mobile last weekend, will both take the weekend off.
On the women's team, senior Julia Ostendorf and junior Mikayla Hodges, who have traded off as the Trojans' top runners in the past two meets, will once again be in the mix to battle for the No. 1 spot.
Ostendorf enters the meet with a personal-best 6K time of 21:56, which she set in 2012 at the NCAA Division-I South Region Cross Country Championships. Hodges, who boasts a career-best of 22:16, will look to break 22 minutes at the hilly course.
They will be joined by juniors Samantha Smith and Keaton Wallace, who both set personal-best times in the 6K last weekend, sophomores Naomi Sheppard and Katrina Bokenfohr, and freshmen Sara Zylstra and Krystin Guirey.
At last year's Mountain Dew Invitational, the University of Florida women took the top three spots and won on their home turf, with the Gators' Lauren Brasure earning the individual title and setting a Florida course record of 16:45 for 5K. On the men's side, Georgia Tech University took first as its own Jeremy Greenwald outpaced the field with a runner-up finish to an unattached competitor.
Stay tuned for final results, which will be posted on troytrojans.com. Fans can keep up with the action by following Troy track and field and cross country on Twitter @TroyTrojanXC_TF and Instagram @TroyTrojansTFXC.
For more information on Troy Athletics, fans can find the Trojans on Twitter and Instagram @TroyAthletics and Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TroyAthletics
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