TALLAHASSEE  – Two weeks after posting a pair of best-ever finishes at the Atlantic Sun Cross Country Championship, the FGCU men's and women's cross country teams are ready for another milestone weekend as they travel to Tallahassee for the 2014 NCAA South Region Championship. For the first time in program history FGCU will slate complete rosters to both the women's 6K and men's 10K, making this year's race more monumental for the Eagles than their three previous appearances in the postseason event. Racing through Florida State's Apalachee Regional Park, the women's 6K is set to begin at 9 a.m. with the men's 10K following at 10 a.m. on Friday.
 
"Last year's regional was a very good experience for our team," head coach Cassandra Goodson said. "We had some elite-level performances come from our top runners Agreo Cruz and Kelly Perzanowski. This year NCAA regionals will be a good opportunity for the men's and women's teams to compete against high-level competition.  If both teams continue to run with aggression and the mental toughness they have brought to every race this year it should be a good showing for us. This is the first time in the history of the women's program that we are bringing our entire team and they deserve it. This has been an exciting season for them as they have made a huge improvement from last year."
 
THE RUN DOWN
Meeting in Florida's capital city to compete this weekend are 444 student-athletes representing the 47 universities that compose the South Region. Of those 444 only 40 runners will earn an automatic bid to NCAA Nationals, meaning 90 percent of the participants will race for the last time this season. The top-two teams from the region will automatically advance to the National meet.  Individually, the top four finishers who are not on a qualifying team will also receive an invitation to Nationals. 
 
The distances of the regional races are longer than the distances the Eagles saw during the regular season. The women's event increases from a 5K to a 6K, while the men move from an 8K to a 10K.
 
"I believe both teams will adjust to the longer races as we've been preparing for them," Goodson said. "For the women the increase is less than a mile and for the men it's about a 1 1/4 mile of added length."
 
THE HISTORY
In the 2013 regional, the FGCU men's team finished in a program-best 17th place with Cruz at the helm posting a program-record 30:45.35 for 25th place and a spot on the NCAA South All-Region Team. Joining Cruz inside the top 100 were two others from the Green and Blue as Austin Boetje took 36th with a 30:59.50 and Nathan Kandie crossed 80th after a 31:53.68. The team's leading trio all posted personal bests while outrunning the former FGCU record of 32:22.90 set by Cruz at the 2012 regional.
 
Competing as an individual in the women's 6K was Perzanowski with an incredible 14th-place finish in record time (20:38.86). Perzanowski outpaced every runner from the Atlantic Sun Conference as well as every runner from high-major programs Georgia, Mississippi, Auburn and Georgia Tech.
 
THE TEAM LEADERS
Both the FGCU men and women have been paced by two different runners in this season's meets. Brooke Sill led the FGCU women's squad for the first four meets and the A-Sun Championship, recording a season-best 17:58.35 at the Mountain Dew Invite, the fastest 5K time the team has seen this season. The last time they raced at Apalachee Regional Park the Eagles were led by Lauren Tarovisky , who finished 19th overall at the FSU Invite after clocking an 18:45.31, just three second in front of Sill (18:48.80). Leading the men twice was Kandie, backed by his career-best 25:41.62 at FSU, while freshman Troy Clark paced the Eagles in their other four meets and holds the season's top time, a 25:32.84 recorded at the Mountain Dew Invite.
 
THE WOMEN'S ROSTER
Represent the FGCU women during their first appearance as a team are Sill, Tarovisky, Stephanie Cajas, Courtney Corradetti, Regan Farrow , Anita Munoz Trejo and Alicen Wilbur.
 
THE MEN'S ROSTER
Compiling the men's roster this weekend are Clark, Kandie, Cody Adkinson, Charles Bengtson, Courtland Bernard, Jose Cartagena,
Jean Deceus and Leonel Delacruz. 
 
THE COURSE
Friday will mark the second time this season the Eagles have raced this course, the first being the FSU Invite on October 10. The Apalachee Regional Park cross country course, developed by the Leon County Recreation Department in collaboration with Florida State University athletics and the local Gulf Winds Track Club, was designed with the sport in mind. A series of trails and loops allows for competition to be contested over a wide range of race lengths.
 
The predominant running surfaces are grass and crushed shell. The width of the course ranges from approximately 150 meters at the starting line and is significantly wider than 25 meters through the first 800 meters, where it narrows to 15 meters at the 1000m mark. The course meets and actually exceeds the 10-meter width requirement at all points through the finish chute following the recent completion of a $250,000 widening and renovation project.
 
2014 NCAA South Region Entered Women's Teams
Alabama
Alabama State
Auburn
Belmont
Chattanooga
East Tennessee State
Florida
Florida Atlantic
FGCU
Florida State
Georgia
Georgia State
Georgia Tech
Jacksonville State
Kennesaw State
Lipscomb
Memphis
Mercer
Middle Tennessee State
Mississippi State
Mississippi
North Florida
Samford
South Alabama
South Florida
Southern Mississippi
Tennessee
Tennessee-Martin
UAB
UCF
Vanderbilt
 
2014 NCAA South Region Entered Men's Teams
Alabama
Auburn
Belmont
Chattanooga
East Tennessee State
Florida
Florida Atlantic
FGCU
Florida State
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Jacksonville State
Kennesaw State
Lipscomb
Memphis
Mercer
Middle Tennessee State
Mississippi State
Mississippi
North Florida
Samford
South Alabama
South Florida
Tennessee
Tennessee Tech
Tennessee-Martin
Vanderbilt
 
For complete coverage of FGCU cross country at A-Sun Championships, follow on Twitter @FGCU_XC and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com where full recaps and results will be available at the end of the meet.
 
FGCU is led by Cassandra Goodson, whose six seasons at the helm have taken the Eagles from their humble beginnings to a competitive D-I program, highlighted by three trips to the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship. Every mark in the FGCU all-time record book has been etched during the Goodson era, as she has coached eight A-Sun All-Conference selections, the 2013 Female Conference Runner of the Year and two members of the NCAA South All-Region Team.
 
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.