Women's cross country team set to compete at FSU Invite

The Eastern Florida State College women's cross country team will compete in the FSU Invite Friday morning at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee.

The women's race is scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. and the 5K race will feature 33 teams including host Florida State University, the University of Miami, LSU as well as NCAA Division II teams like the University of Tampa, Saint Leo and Florida Tech.

"I am excited for the girls, there are some other junior colleges there so we want to see how we stack up against other two-year schools," Eastern Florida State College women's cross country coach Doug Butler said. "They have had a couple of good training sessions so I think we will do pretty well."

Rachel Starr set the program record at the North Alabama Showcase in Huntsville, Alabama in September, running a 21 minute, 8.78 second 5K. Teammate Allison Downie also finished strong, running a 21:15.74 in that race.

"This is a great course, it is half grass and half compact dirt road, but it is very quick with a minor hill around the halfway point," Butler said. "The weather Is going to be good so it should be cool and I look for some breakout times."

The women come into the race ranked No. 25 in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll.