Troy Cross Country Competes at Mountain Dew Invitational

Saturday, September 19

Gainesville, Fla.

Troy University

UF Mountain Dew Classic

Photo by: Joshua Thurston

Troy Cross Country Competes at Mountain Dew Invitational

9/19/2015 10:51:00 AM | Cross Country

By: Kylie Murphy

GAINSEVILLE, Florida – The Troy men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Mountain Dew Gator Invitational, hosted by Florida, on Saturday morning. The men's squad competed in the 8k, while the women ran a 5k at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.

On the men's side, freshman Brennan Garriques earned the top finish for Troy, as he clocked in at 26:32.75 for 27^th. Sophomore Dylan Ogburn finished right behind Garriques at 26:32.75 for 28^th. Freshman Kyle Norris finished third for the Trojans with a time of 27:04.65.

"Our men will be fine once we get everyone rolling at the same time," cross country head coach Elliott Blount said. "We saw some huge improvement from a few runners. We are very young with a lot to learn."

Zachary Bias, Timothy Bulger and Austin Gray rounded out the group finishing with times of 27:44, 28:13 and 28:28, respectively.

For the women, Mikayla Hodges paved the way for the Trojans with a time of 18:59.55, for a top-35 finish. Senior Julia Ostendorf clocked in just behind her at 19:11.76.

"On the women's side we didn't have the best day," Blount said. "We need to become more consistent with our races. We'll get some good training the next couple of weeks and hope to get back on track."

Katrina Bokenfohr and Keaton Wallace finished with times of 20:47.99 and 20:58.76, respectively, while Naomi Sheppard and Saraj Zylstra finished neck and neck to round out the group.

In group results, the Trojan men finished fourth overall. North Florida claimed top honors, while Florida and Florida Gulf Coast took second and third. On the women's side, Florida took first place while Troy placed 10^th.