TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Southern College women's cross country team, led by junior frontrunner Emma Mussante (Middleburg HS, Middleburg, FL) took on arguably its toughest field so far this season with several strong NCAA Division I programs and several Sunshine State Conference teams competing at the Florida State University Invitational Friday morning. The Moccasins finished eighth among the 35 teams including topping nine NCAA Division I institutions and finishing as the third NCAA Division II squad.

Mussante was the top Moccasin finisher as she crossed the line 24th overall with a time of 18:17.5 on the 5K course. Redshirt junior Ellie Fluman was the next FSC finisher as she placed 48th in the 335-member field after clocking in at 18:47.9.

Southeastern Conference member LSU took the top team prize as the Tigers compiled 27 points to best fellow SEC member Florida who turned in 42 points. Florida International rounded out the top three with 106 points. Sunshine State Conference member Tampa took fourth with 110 points and was the top NCAA Division II finisher. The next three finishers included Miami (170 pts.), Palm Beach Atlantic (222 pts.) and the hosts Florida State (241 pts.). The Moccasins came in with 259 points to secure eighth place, just one point ahead of USF who collected 260 points.

In the men's race, FSC graduate student Alex Guy (Keystone Heights) was third third-team finisher behind Christian Gillers and Owen Allen, who finished in the top 11 of the 342-athlete field. Guy finished 20th in 25:24.3 with teammate Bryson Yamnitz in 21st in 25:25.7.

The Moccasins will be in action next Saturday, Oct. 7 at the UAH Invitational in Huntsville, Ala. The women's race is currently scheduled for 9:50 a.m. (EST).

Also in the men's field was Flagler College junior A'Jani Stokes (Oakleaf HS) in 117th in 26:42.3.

For the girls, University of South Florida freshman Katelyn Thompson (Fleming Island HS) finished 119th in 19:50.6, Daytona State College freshman Molly Burt (Middleburg HS) was 234th in 21:37.1 and Florida Gulf Coast freshman Kaitlyn Frost (Bishop Snyder) was 260th in 22:25.3. Frost improved from a 23:58.7 at the Mountain Dew Classic in Gainesville two weeks ago.

For the University of North Florida women's cross country team, Emma Millson (Fleming Island HS) was the third team finisher for Lady Ospreys at the Gans Creek Classic in Columbia, MO with the team finishing 10th overall in the 23 team field which included team champion Nebraska in front of Missouri, Wichita State and Kansas State as UNF took on some of the best teams of the midwest United States.

Millson, a junior, finished 63rd in 22:33.0 for a personal best behind teammates Isa Leen, 48th in 22:16.9, and Erica Fisher in 53rd in 22:23.4.

The UNF men's team finished as second team behind a fourth-place finish from Robert Pedroza in 24:00.5. Illinois scored 46 points with three top 10 finishers to win with UNF second with 76 points.

UNF will prepare for the ASUN XC Championship race on October 28 in Nashville, TN, with an October 13 race date at the Florida Southern Invite in Lakeland.