Canes XC Set for FAU Invitational
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami cross country program will open its 2016 season at the FAU Invitational Friday.
The Canes will be one of five men’s teams, and seven women’s squads, competing in the 5K on Friday evening. The women will race first, at 6 p.m., with the men scheduled to go off at 6:30 at South County Regional Park, located at 11200 Park Access Road in Boca Raton.
“The FAU Invitational is a great meet to see where our fitness is at coming off the summer,” Miami distance coach Damon Griffiths said. “We are talented up front. We will need our back end runners to be better tomorrow.”
Miami, FAU, FIU and Florida Gulf Coast, along with Nova Southeastern from Division II, will make up the men’s field. Those five teams, as well as Division II teams Lynn and Palm Beach Atlantic, round out the seven women’s teams.
“There will be some competitive local teams at this meet, some of which are ranked in the regional polls,” Griffiths said. “That’s where we want to be and competing well at this meet will be the first step to getting there.”
The Hurricanes will race at the FAU Invitational to open the season for the third consecutive year and they will be led by two-time defending women’s champion Gabrielle Hesslau. A year ago, she began her best cross country season to date with a victory at the FAU Invitational, posting a time of 17:56.9 to repeat as the women’s 5K champion.
Hesslau went on to be Miami’s top finisher at the ACC Cross Country Championships and at the NCAA South Regional, finishing the year ranking third in UM history in the 6K and fourth on the school’s all-time women’s 5K list.
Anne Den Otter is another runner expected to shine in 2016 after an impressive 2015 campaign. Den Otter established herself as Miami’s No. 2 runner on the women’s side as a freshman a year ago, climbing into the Miami record books with a 5K time that ranks eighth in school history and the seventh-best women’s 6K in UM history, a time she posted at the NCAA South Regional.
The women’s team also brings back several student-athletes with racing experience including sophomore Carla Rodriguez, junior Mulloy Manning and seniors Megan Brown and Samantha Chenkin. Freshman Molly Rickles is also set to make her Hurricanes’ debut Friday evening.
On the men’s side, junior Sean Grossman and senior Jon Keller are expected to pace the Hurricanes this season. Grossman was Miami’s top male runner in 2015, competing at the NCAA South Regional, while Keller had three top 15 finishes as a junior a year ago. Miami’s men will also have six returners with previous race experience, giving the Hurricanes one of their deepest lineups in recent history.
Following this weekend’s season-opening race, the Hurricanes will travel to Boone, N.C., to compete at the Mountain to Sea Duals hosted by Appalachian State on Sept. 16. The Canes will close out the month in Gainesville, Fla., racing in the Mountain Dew Invitational on Sept. 24.
Miami will also run in the USF Invitational (Oct. 14) and the Miami Duals (Oct. 20), their final two races before the 2016 ACC Cross Country Championships in Cary, N.C., on Oct. 28. The Miami Duals will be Miami’s first home cross country event since hosting the Miami Greentree Invitational in 2012.
NCAA Regional Championships are slated for Nov. 11 in Tallahassee, Fla., with the NCAA Championships taking place on Nov. 19 in South Bend, Ind.
Miami Projected Lineups
Men: Luke Dublirer, Adam George, Sean Grossman, Sean Hagert, Nick Kaleel, Jonathan Keller, David Maldonado, Michael Miano
Women: Megan Brown, Samantha Chenkin, Sophia Corde, Anne Den Otter, Gabrielle Hesslau, Mulloy Manning, Laura Puentes, Molly Rickles, Carla Rodriguez
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