Sept. 21, 2011
AUBURN, Ala. - The competition gets ratcheted up a notch on Friday when the Auburn cross country teams head to Tallahassee, Fla. for the Florida State Cross Country Invitational.
The men's and women's teams have earned multiple wins in the first two races, but Auburn will face a new level of competition when it hits the course on Friday afternoon. Seventeen total teams will compete in the FSU Invite, including the top-ranked Seminoles.
Florida State holds the No. 1 ranking in the USTFCCCA South region in both the men's and women's polls. Additionally, North Florida will bring its top-10 men's and women's teams to town. Auburn's teams rank 14th.
"Florida State is obviously very good on both the men's and women's sides," Auburn head coach Mark Carroll said. "Then, you have North Florida coming in too. It's 17 teams overall - a pretty big meet. It will be strong competition for us and another step in the right direction toward SECs.
"Florida State has one of the better teams in the country. If they run their top team, they are certainly very good. "
Carroll is confident this race will be a solid next step in the development of his young team as it continues to move toward a late-season peak.
"We're trying to keep getting better and better each week and taking each challenge as they come," the third-year coach said. "We're excited. The team is ready to get on the road again this week and then the week after at Notre Dame. I think after that everyone will be in full race mode."
In addition to the strong competition, the Tigers will also face a new challenge in a longer course this week. After the men and women ran 4k and 6k races, respectively, in the home meet two weeks ago, the squads will tackle 5k and 8k courses on Friday in Tallahassee.
"Racing is obviously very, very good for us and the race this week will be another big step up for us at Florida State," Carroll said. "The level of competition is going up the whole time with each meet and obviously and we are getting a little closer to the SEC distance each time with the thought that we peak at the right time."
Friday's race is scheduled to begin with the women's 5k race at 5:20 p.m. CT, followed by the men's 8k race at 5:45 p.m.