GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The FGCU men's and women's cross country teams recorded program-best finishes as they both placed third among a stacked field at the UF Mountain Dew Invitational at the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday morning.

Both programs finished ahead of the likes of Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Jacksonville, Miami and Stetson, while the women also defeated Florida State and UCF, further solidifying FGCU as one of the top programs in the state of Florida. The women were initially awarded the runner-up trophy following the meet, but were deemed to finish third after a scoring dilemma in which a runner was mistakenly counted twice was corrected.

The women's team, led by Lauren Tarovisky's (Wheeling, W.Va./Wheeling Park HS/Morehead State) 11th-place finish in a time of 18:19.35, came in only five points behind Atlantic Sun foe North Florida for a runner up finish, while host Florida set the pace.

Saturday marked the second consecutive meet Tarovisky finished first among Eagle runners. Following the senior standout, the Green and Blue placed four additional runners in the top 30. Morgan Reichert (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins HS/Ohio) finished 13th in a time of 18:26.96, Anita Munoz (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee HS) crossed the finish line 19th in 18:32.69, Courtney Corradetti (Oceanside, Calif./Vista HS) placed 21st in 18:35.30 and Stephanie Cajas (Lithia, Fla./Newsome HS) placed 28th in 18:54.65.

"It's unfortunate that our ladies were miscommunicated with in such an important result as this, but this doesn't discredit their effort and what they did as a team in this event," said head coach Cassandra Goodson. "They ran an incredible race together and that was our focus going into the competition. We are a unified bunch and that is our strength over much of our competition. We are a very dangerous team and this leaves us very hungry for the next time."

On the men's side, the Eagles also finished behind UNF and host Florida for a program-best finish at the invite, finishing nearly 60 points clear of fourth-place Troy.

Nathan Kandie (Iten, Kenya/Arizona) set the pace for FGCU as he clocked a new personal-best and finished seventh in a time of 25:34.72, good for the eighth-best time in program history. Fellow Eagles Jean Deceus (Immokalee, Fla./Immokalee HS), Cody Adkinson (Port Charlotte, Fla./Port Charlotte HS) and Troy Clark (Mount Dora, Fla./Mount Dora Bible HS) also finished among the top 30 in the field with 17th, 24th and 29th-place finishes, respectively.

"The men have really established themselves as one of the top teams in Florida," Goodson said. "I'm proud of their historic finish, especially considering we didn't race two of our top guys. The course conditions were muddy, but the guys stayed tough and put together some impressive results."

Next up for FGCU, both programs will travel to Spartanburg, S.C., for the Upstate Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 3, looking to keep their historic start to the 2015 season going.

WOMEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
11. Lauren Tarovisky – 18:19.35
13. Morgan Reichert – 18:26.96
19. Anita Munoz – 18:32.69
21. Courtney Corradetti – 18:35.30
28. Stephanie Cajas – 18:54.65
34. Carley Lutzow – 19:02.96
51. Araceli Leon – 19:25.81
88. Emily Perkinson – 20:32.81

MEN'S INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
7. Nathan Kandie – 25:34.72
17. Jean Deceus – 26:06.29
24. Cody Adkinson – 26:25.13
29. Troy Clark – 26:42.17
31. Alex Delle Monache – 26:49.76
33. Charles Bengston – 26:57.42
41. Leonel Delacruz – 27:41.00
58. Mathew Titus – 28:36.77

WOMEN'S TEAM RESULTS
1. Florida – 31
2. North Florida – 86
3. FGCU – 91
4. Jacksonville – 114
5. Florida A&M – 117
6. UCF – 170 
7. Florida Atlantic – 187
8. Miami – 231
9. IPFW – 238
10. Troy – 272
11. Stetson – 276
12. Florida State – 284
13. Florida International – 398

MEN'S TEAM RESULTS
1, North Florida – 31
2. Florida – 32
3. FGCU – 96
4. Troy – 153
5. Florida Atlantic – 163
6. Miami – 166
7. Florida International – 190
8. Jacksonville – 215
9. Stetson – 235
10. Florida A&M – 266
11. IPFW – 287

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.