MELBOURNE, Fla. - The 2016 season started at Wickham Park in Melbourne, Florida on Saturday as the Embry-Riddle women's cross country team ran to an eighth-place showing at the Sunshine State Pre-Conference meet, hosted by Florida Tech.
Embry-Riddle - 8th of 11 (Meet Results)
The Eagles totalled 210 points in their first race of the season, placing three runners in the top-50. ERAU ran a total time of 1:46:24.14 with an average of 21:16.83.
The Eagles
Eliza Gazda led the way for the Blue and Gold with a 20:32.57 time, good for 31st, and marking the junior's first time being the top-finisher for Embry-Riddle. Senior
Martina Tafoya finished 45th overall in 21:01.16, her first cross country competition since the fall of 2014.
Maite Moscoso (21:04.88) was 47th, just a few seconds behind Tafoya, while
Alexandria Meneses finished 55th (21:15.60) and
Leanne Ellis (22:29.93) rounded out the ERAU scorers in 87th.
Brianna Paczysnki (22:32.62) and
Hayley Lewis (23:13.34) also competed for the Eagles, with Lewis' time nearly a two-minute improvement from her best mark of 2015.
Several Embry-Riddle runners competed unattached, including
Alex Orr and
Mikaela Hakamaa who placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in 18:56.59 and 19:05.97, while
Josie Gray (19:54.66) and
Sarah Edens (20:10.25) ran to 19th and 25th place, respectively
Qoutable
"I thought we ran well, given the heat and humidity," Head Coach
Mike Rosolino said. "We head a good pack running together, and even though times were a little slow due to the weather, we will continue to improve as the season progresses. Our unattached contingent also performed very well today."
Next Up
Embry-Riddle will return to Daytona Beach to host the annual ASICS Embry-Riddle Classic on Saturday, Sept. 17 on the ERAU athletic campus.
