Daytona State Men's Cross Country Season Preview

Starting their 6th season, Daytona State Cross Country runners are gearing up for the 2023 campaign. The 2023 season begins with Run the Beach Relay on August 24 in Daytona Beach where runners are paired up with a partner from thier squad and compete against other teams form Region 8 in a 1 mile relay race. Starting off in September, the Falcons will go north to UNF on September 1st for a 4K for the women and a 6K for the men. Other meets include a trip to Huntsville, Alabama to preview the national meet course, a trip to FSU to preview the regional meet course. The Falcons will be finishing up in October and November with a trip to Holloway Park in Lakeland, Florida, then back to FSU for the Region 8 Championships, set for Tuesday, October 24. The grand finale of the season is the NJCAA Div. 2 Championships which will take place November 11 in Huntsville, Alabama followed by NJCAA Half Marathon Championships taking place on November 14. 

On the men's side, Daytona State has a strong core of returning runners led by Jared Falchook and Jayven Garcia. Both had a very solid summer of training and are focused on the end goal. They are joined by classmates Julian Pomales, Ivan Marin-Padilla, Brendan Hamilton, and Jacob Bormet. Falchook and Pomales will try to repeat as All-Region 8 runners. This group has displayed strong development and improvement from their freshman year. Each of these individuals have grown as students and runners over the last year which will only help the squad over the course of the season. 

This group is joined by a talented freshmen class: Evan Casterline, Isaac Morrison, Zeniel Lizardo, Joel Jean, Pedro Zapata, and Connor Cook. Casterline comes to Daytona having been a dual sport athlete in high school, participating in rowing and track/cross country. "Evan's background in rowing was very appealing to me due to the workethic of rowers in general and I think by solely focusing on running he could have an amazing running career ahead of him" Coach Wilson says. Other notable freshmen are Joel Jean - a 9:30 2-miler from Harmony High School - Pedro Zapata - who achieved a 9:01 in a 3K time trial in March this past spring - Isaac Morrison - who comes in with a 4:26 mile - and Zeniel Lizardo - who hails from Tohopekaliga High School, the pipeline of Daytona State Cross Country. Together, this squad has exceptional depth and are expected to achieve great things this year at the regional and national meets.