- Friday morning will be busy in the area of Apalachee Regional Park.
- Florida state cross country teams will race in the ACC Championships at the park.
- Find out when the races start and why they matter to FSU in the news release below.
NEWS RELEASE:
The Florida state cross country teams will race in the ACC Championships on Friday morning at the Apalachee Regional Park.
The men’s 8k will start at 8:40 a.m. with the women’s 6k following at 9:30 a.m. Both races will air on the ACC Network and live timing will be available.
This will be the second ACC Championships hosted at the Apalachee Regional Park, the first being in 2015.
“We’re going to have the home crowd with us,” FSU men’s head coach Bob Braman said. “It’s a big deal for us. Our ranking doesn’t matter, we’re trying to win this race. We haven’t won an ACC Championship since 2010. We’ve been good, but we haven’t won a championship and we’re going to go for it.”
The men’s team will look to take advantage of racing at home when they step to the line to face five teams ranked in the USTFCCCA top 30. The Seminoles received votes in the week four poll after climbing to No. 19 in week 3 following a second-place finish at the Joe Piane Invite at Notre Dame.
David Mullarkey led the Seminoles in the 5-mile race by placing fifth at 23:24.8. FSU who scored 95 points, was just eight behind the (then) No. 9 Irish. The Noles knocked off three ranked teams in the process, finishing ahead of No. 21 NC State (174), No. 27 Alabama (114) and No. 28 Montana State (256). It was the best finish for the men’s team at the historic meet since 2011, when FSU also placed second.
Mullarkey and Abdirizak Ibrahim captured ACC Performers of the Week this season and Ibrahim was the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week on Sept. 12 after he won the Firetower Project Run to open the season.
The women’s team was led this season by Alyson Churchill, who won both races in Boone, N.C. to start the season before taking home bronze in the 5K at the Joe Piane Invite (16:15.8). Churchill has also brought home two ACC Performers of the Week this season.
“Our conference is the best distance conference in the country,” FSU women’s head coach Cody Halsey said. “This is our home course. We take a lot of pride in it and the team knows it very well. It’s beautiful, it’s perfect, we train out here and it’s always a good day whenever you can race on your home course. With that said, we have almost a completely new top eight, but it’s a group of women who I really believe are set up to do something special tomorrow.”
For more information on Florida State cross country, follow Twitter @FSU_Track and Instagram @FSU_Track.
