Falcon Cross Country Makes History.

For the first time since it's inception in 2018, the Daytona State men's and women's cross country teams are both ranked in the top five in the country in the USTFCCCA  national poll. The women's program came away with a fifth place ranking in the October 6th poll, it's highest ranking ever. The women finished eighth at last year's Nationals and are looking to improve in 2021. Led by a strong duo of Harleigh Crist and Juliet St Angelo, the Falcons have a chance of putting two runners in the top 15 at the national meet. 

 

The team's fifth place ranking comes after they traveled to UCF last weekend, finishing eighth in a competitive field featuring NCAA Division 1 teams.  Host UCF, Florida, and Jacksonville,  took the top three spots.   The Falcons were led by freshman Juliet St Angelo, who was on pace for a personal best. But the race distance of 5k was cut short by a detour in the course. The unofficial distance was 2.9 miles, approximately ninety seconds short of a 5K. St Angelo continues to run up front with returning Falcon Harleigh Crist, who just a few weeks ago became the first Falcon female runner to be named national runner of the week by the USTCCCA.  Freshman Ayanna Fulton, third for the Falcons, continues to improve weekly and is closing the gap on Daytona State's top two. Nathaly Abastida and Angel Khrino finished 4th and 5th for the Falcons and coach Judy Wilson sees them as playing a pivotal part for what the team can accomplish on the national scene. 

Next up for the Falcons, is the highly competitive FSU pre-national meet. The main goal will be to get a look at the course where the FCSAA Region 8 meet will be held on October 29th.   The Falcons will run the NCAA championship distance of 6,000 meters and compete against some of the top teams in the country at the NCAA level. Women's race time is 9:45am, right after the 9:10am men's race.