NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt men’s and women’s cross country will hit the road for the first time this season as it travels to Gainesville, Florida, to compete in the Mountain Dew Invitational and South Region Preview Friday.
Hosted by Florida, the meet will take place at the same site as the NCAA South Region Championships in November, the Mark Bostick Golf Course. Exact race distances are 8 kilometers for the men and 3 miles for the women. Vanderbilt will be joined by student-athletes from FIU, Flagler, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida Southern, Florida State, Georgia Tech, North Florida, South Florida, Stetson, Tampa, Chattanooga and Embry-Riddle.
The Commodores had a week off of competition after opening their season at the Belmont Opener on Friday, September 1. At the season-opening event, the women’s team placed second and the men’s team finished third overall. Top finishers for the Commodores included junior Ella Lambert, who placed seventh with a time of 18:13.5, and freshman Brady Bliven, who was 18th and recorded a time of 15:46.33.
At the Belmont Opener, Julia Rosenberg, Lainey Phelps, Ashlee Gallegos and Catherine Sommerfeld were Vanderbilt’s other top-5 finishers, all placing top 15 overall. On the men’s side, Andrew Pahnke, Jackson Scruggs, Dylan Ballard and Zach Hodges rounded out the Dores’ top-5 finishers for the men.
The men’s race at the Mountain Dew Invitational will begin at 6:40 a.m. CT and the women will start running at 7:20 a.m. CT. Live results will be available online.
