On an early Saturday morning, the Saint Leo Lions’ men’s cross country team had a convincing win to take home a first place victory over rivals Florida Southern College at the Holloway Park preseason festival in very humid conditions.
The men formed a pack early on as they worked together to cruise through the field on a windy, hilly, eight-kilometer course. After three miles the pack started to separate as freshman Clemont Goujon, sophomore Tadgh Mcginty and transfer Sean Bell started to wind up the pace. Following close behind the trio was another group of Lions which included senior Joshua Sickinger, freshman Noah Quintana, junior Tyler Pantley and sophomore Ethan Markey.
As the race came to a close, freshman Clement Goujon led the Lions with a third-place finish in the DII category with a time of 27:46. The French native was followed by Shawn Bell in fifth place with a time of 27:55, Tadgh McGinty placed sixth: 27:59, Noah Quintana seventh in 28:15, Tyler Pantley eighth: 28:24.3, Ethan Markey 10th: 28:39.0, Joshua Sickinger 11th: 28:49.2, Hunter Chavis 15th: 31:10 and Brandon Cruz 18th: 36:36.
Florida Southern’s athlete Mason Jones came away with the victory in a promising time of 26.17 to claim the Holloway Park preseason victory.
Coach Reiber said a few words after the men’s performance, “I am really happy with this performance on the men’s side. It’s the first race of the season, so it is really hard to judge where everyone’s fitness level is at, but the guys showed great class today. We really wanted to focus on us, and I think we did just that. It’s good to see everyone is buying into this new mentality.”
The Saint Leo men’s cross country team race again September 22, when the Lions travel to Gainesville, Florida to participate in the Mountain Dew Invitational hosted by the University of Florida.
On the women’s side, Irish native Laura Tobin ran a great race to come home in first place at Holloway Park for the Preseason Festival. The Lions took third overall out of the 11 teams competing from both Division II and NAIA.
Tobin tore up the course with a time of 19:47.9 on the 5K course, to run away with a win. She stunned the second place finisher as she pushed the pace the last mile coming in 11-seconds ahead of the second place Southeastern University top runner. In the Division II standings, Tobin finished 27 seconds faster than Florida Southern’s top-runner.
As the Lions crossed the finish line, Ashley Lindeman finished behind Tobin in ninth with a time of 20:55, followed by Georgia Clode coming home in 10th, 21:14, Sage Lyons 11th: 21:17, Noemi Anaya 12th: 21:43, Heidi-Jay Churchill 16th: 24:07, Rebecca Myers 17th: 25:56, Izabella Van Den Berg 18th: 26:20 and AnaPaula Rios Rosales 21st: 28:17.
Coach Reiber also said some positive comments on the women’s performance. “The women had a very good at the office, with Laura getting her first ever collegiate win. The newcomers also showed that they belong on this team with great debuts coming from all. I see a bright future in this young squad. I am excited on what’s ahead.”
The Saint Leo women’s cross country team race again September 22 when the Lions travel to Gainesville, Florida to race in the Mountain Dew Invitational hosted by the University of Florida.
