SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The FGCU men's and women's cross country programs hit the road for the third time this fall as they head to the Upstate Invitational hosted by USC Upstate on Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Milliken Research Center. The men are scheduled to being the 8k race at 9 a.m., followed by the women's 5k run shortly after.
 
Joining the Green and Blue at the meet are a crop of talented teams as six men's programs and five women's programs, including FGCU, appear in the most recent USTFCCCA Regional Rankings. The men will be stacked up against the likes of UNF (No. 5, South), Georgia Tech (No. 7, South), Virginia Tech (No. 7, Southeast), High Point (No. 10, Southeast) and Appalachian State (No. 13, Southeast). On the women's side, they'll compete against regionally-ranked Appalachian State (No. 6, Southeast), Coastal Carolina (No. 7, Southeast), Georgia Tech (No. 11, South) and UNF (No. 12, South).
 
"We've always liked the course at Upstate with it being a great spectator course, making it easier to coach our runners," said head coach Cassandra Goodson. "We're looking forward to another opportunity to compete against conference schools and are excited to keep our early momentum going."
 
In their most recent meet at the UF Mountain Dew Invitational, both the men's and women's teams put together program-best performances as they each finished third in the field.
 
Following its performance in Gainesville, the FGCU women entered the USTFCCCA Rankings for the first time in program history and are currently the lone women's cross country-only program in the nation to be regionally ranked as the Eagles are No. 13 in the South Region.
 
Overall, it has been a group effort for the Green and Blue as they have recorded 13 top-30 individual finishes through two meets this season. Lauren Tarovisky (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Parks HS/Morehead State) has paced the Eagles in each of the two meets this season after clocking a time of 18:47.79 en route to a fifth-place finish at the UNF Invitational, followed by an 11th-place finish and a time of 18:19.35 at the UF Invitational.
 
On the men's side, the Eagles are returning to full strength and continue to be led by the program's most experienced group in years. Senior Nathan Kandie (Iten, Kenya/Arizona) has finished first among Eagle runners in each of the team's two meets this season. In the most recent UF Invitational, Kandie clocked a personal-best in the 8k as he crossed the finish line seventh overall in a time of 25:34.72, good for eighth-best in program history. Like the women, it has been a balanced attack for the men's program as six runners have finished in the top-36 in both meets this season.
 
Following their trip to Spartanburg, the Eagles will hit the road one last time before competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships as they run in the USF Invitational in Tampa on Friday, Oct. 16.
 
UPSTATE INVITATIONAL TEAMS

Division I	Non-Division I
Wofford	Limestone
Appalachian State	Newberry
Western Carolina	Converse (women only)
Winthrop	King (women only)
UNC Wilmington	Erskin
Campbell	Lynchburg
Charleston Southern	UNC Pembroke
Citadel
Coastal Carolina
FGCU
Gardner-Webb
Georgia Tech
Liberty
Presbyterian
Radford
USC Upstate
High Point
UNC Asheville
UNF
Virginia Tech

 
FOLLOW ALONG
For complete coverage of FGCU men's and women's cross country this season, follow us on Twitter @FGCU_XC and visit www.FGCUAthletics.com.

COACH GOODSON
FGCU is led by Cassandra Goodson, whose seven 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 nine A-Sun All-Conference selections, the 2013 Female Conference Runner of the Year and two members of the NCAA South All-Region Team.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE 
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.