TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (October 24, 2023) – A pair of record-breaking performances propelled Daytona State College and Eastern Florida State College to team victories in Tuesday's FCSAA/NJCAA Region 8 Cross Country Championships at Apalachee Regional Park.
Daytona State's Giovana Meade was the top female runner, finishing in 18:46.4, to win the FCSAA Division II/NJCAA Region 8 Individual Championship and FCSAA Division II Women's Runner of the Year honors. Her time bested teammate Shannon Jones' previous race record by 39 seconds, set a year ago.
Meanwhile, Eastern Florida State's Rachel Starr finished in 19:33.2, establishing a new Division I race record. The previous mark of 20:14.0 was set a year ago by Seminole State College's Carly Holadia.
In total, a record 86 runners lined up for Friday's race at the ARP, which was hosting its eighth consecutive FCSAA Championships.
Division I
Last year, Eastern Florida State fought off Seminole State by the narrowest of margins, tallying 27 points to the Raiders' 28.
Today, the Titans matched their team score from 2022 with another 27-point effort. Seminole State finished with 29 points.
In 2022, Holadia won the Individual Championship, holding off Starr, who finished in second. This time around, the results were reversed with Starr claiming the individual title and NJCAA Division I Region 8 Women's Runner of the Year honors.
Holadia finished second with a time of 20:22.0.
Eastern Florida State's Marlie Gonzalez (20:29.9) was third followed by a pair of Raiders – fourth-place Liliana Flores (21:20.4) and fifth-place Emma Tisdale (21:30.7).
The Titans' Amelia Shephard (21:41.1) placed sixth and Seminole State's Kate Ulmer (22:20.7) was seventh to round out the Division I All-NJCAA Region 8 Team.
Chipola College did not qualify for team scoring but did have four runners participate, led by Emily Hull, who placed 12th with a time of 24:21.6.
Division II
Daytona State won the team championship for the first time since 2020, halting Pasco-Hernando State College's bid for a three-peat.
By virtue of winning the team championship, Daytona State's Judy Wilson was named FCSAA Division II/NJCAA Region 8 Coach of the Year.
Meade trailed Jones at the first split but overtook the top spot by the 4K mark and never looked back.
Jones finished in second with a time of 19:16.9, which was nine seconds faster than her 2022 time.
Lauren Shaudel made it a 1-2-3 finish for the Falcons, posting a time of 20:27.3.
Pasco-Hernando State's Nathalia Mallo (20:38.2) was fourth, followed by South Florida State College's Alexis Camacho Rameriz (20:39.2) and Florida Gateway College's Sarah Simpson (20:51.1), who placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Daytona State's Molly Burt rounded out the Division II All-FCSAA/All-NJCAA Region 8 Team with a seventh-place finish (21:02.5).
Florida Gateway finished third in the team scoring with 68 points. South Florida State was fourth followed by Florida State College at Jacksonville, the College of Central Florida, Pensacola State College and Lake-Sumter State College.
Tallahassee Community College did not qualify for team scoring but did have three runner participate, led by Alyssa Spagnoli, who finished 14th with a time of 21:32.2.
The teams will now get ready for the NJCAA Cross Country Championships on November 11 and NJCAA Half Marathon on November 14. Both events will take place in Huntsville, Ala.
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