Daytona Beach, Fla. (Cross Country) – Men's and women's cross country made an impressive showing at the Embry Riddle Cross Country Classic on Saturday morning. The Lakehawks raced in a broad field of runners from Divisions I, II and NJCAA institutions.
As a team, the women finished 12th posting a team-average 5,000-Meter time of 24:20. The men followed with a sixth-place finish, ranking the highest of all NJCAA teams running.
Freshman Lily Novac was the top finisher for the Lakehawks posting a career-best time of 23:04.6, placing her a 11th among the NJCCA runners.
Annagrace Weathers (24:23.9), Solerys Torres Cardona (24:27.9), Meredith Richemond (24:42.4), and Alexis Doll (25:03.6) all recorded season-best times on Saturday morning.
"The women have had some really tough workouts this week and this was a difficult course. I was pleased with the perseverance and determination of the ladies," said head coach Cristy Snellgroves.
The men's race came after the women's and went out strong with Cooper Krug leading the Lakehawks up to the last few hundred meters. With the last leg of the race finishing in a loop around the track, Caleb Melendez put a surge on Cooper as they worked to ward off two Embry Riddle runners.
Melendez used a last-minute burst to pass Krug to the finish line, the two finishing at 32nd and 33rd overall, recording the best times among all NJCAA runners. Melendez clocked a personal-best 8,000-Meter time of 28:23.2, followed by Krug with a season best of 28.24.2.
Lash Bradshaw came third for the Lakehawks at 29.28.8 and Santos Aguilar fourth at 29.50.5, both posting top-10 times among NJCAA runners. Finishing off the top-7 were Julio Rojas, Tavin Bradshaw and Eric Major.
Coach Snellgroves weighed in on the team's weekend performance, "We are targeting the end of the season for the men to reach a performance peak and re training through many of these early races. The freshmen are working hard and making huge improvements week to week."
Up next for the Lakehawks
Cross country travels to Saint Leo University for the St. Leo University Abbey Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 24. Visit www.lakehawksports.com and follow @lakehawksports on Twitter for more!