FORT MYERS, Fla – The FGCU men's cross-country team made its way on this week Division I men's cross-country regional rankings after a first-place finish at the USF Invite in Tampa on Friday. This is the first time this season the team picked up a spot on the rankings and their first team win of the year.
The Green and Blue are ranked No. 15 in the South Region amongst Tennessee at No. 1, Alabama at No. 2, Ole Miss at No. 3, FSU at No. 4, Florida at No. 9 and South Alabama at No. 12.
"I am very happy for the men's team, they earned this," said head coach
Cassandra Goodson. "Not only are they running well but right now we have really good energy,"
The Eagles finished with a total of 57 points to take first place and defeated USF, Tampa and FIU to name a few at the South Florida meet.
Bramwell Havi (St. Louis/Mo./Lindenwood) was the first Eagle to cross the line on the men's side, finishing fifth with a time 26:19.5. His teammates followed closely behind as freshman
Israel Gamez (Ruskin, Fla. /Lennard HS) was 9
th with a time of 26:56.9.
Franklin Caceres (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS and
Matthew Speruta (Cape Coral, Fla./Ida Baker HS) came in 10
th (26:59.4) and 11
th (26:59.5), respectively.
Both men's and women's cross country team will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 29 for the ASUN Cross Country Championships in Huntsville, Alabama.
USTFCCCA SOUTH REGIONAL COACHES RANKINGS – Week 5
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Ole Miss
- Florida State
- North Florida
- Middle Tennessee
- Georgia Tech
- Lipscomb
- Florida Gulf
- Memphis
- Auburn
- South Alabama
- ETSU
- Belmont
- FGCU
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 15 seasons at the helm have taken the Eagles from their humble beginnings to a competitive D-I program, highlighted by eight trips to the NCAA South Regional Championship. Every mark in the FGCU all-time record book has been etched during the Goodson era, as she has coached 21 ASUN All-Conference selections, the 2013 Female Conference Runner of the Year and three members of the NCAA South All-Region Team.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--
