Sept. 13, 2011

BOCA RATON, FL - The FAU cross country team had their second meet of the season at the USF Invitational in Tampa, FL on Friday. The women had a strong showing with two finishing in the top 10 individually, while the men had their first five mile race of the year.

Michelle Jax stood out for FAU in the women's 5K run. Jax a freshman, was the first to cross the finish line for the Owls leading the FAU women with a time of 18:01.75, and finished fifth overall out of 142 runners. Several other runners helped the Owls to their second place team finish. Rebecca Hallam placed sixth with a time of 18:05.77, Stacy Paton (19:06.76) finished 23rd and Deanna Loafman (19:17.80) also finished in the top 30 of the meet. Paton, Loafman Charlene Luxama (19:36.71) and Tara Cripe (19:51.29) all ran new personal best times, Chelsea Connor (20:18.12) got her fastest time in two years and Paige Lawton (20:20.61) tied her personal record time. Rounding out the race for the women was Chelsea Lettiero (21:31.27), Megan Bary (20:06.00) and Venesa Penates (20:59.62) who all ran well.

For the men Ryan Davis (27:03.57) led the pack finishing first for FAU and 30th overall. Michael Neel (27:14.69) finished second for FAU, Eric Kessler (27.23.53) finished 38th overall and Michael Spegal (27:49.13) finished fourth for FAU. Neil Coffman (27:53..93), Adam Simon (28:53.07), Julian Gomez (30:33.33)and Hunter Taylor (31:24.92) also gained experience running the first five mile race of the year.

The Owls will travel to Gainesville, FL next on Sept. 24 to run at the UF Gator Invitational. This will be FAU's third meet of the season.