The Daytona State Women's Cross Country team placed second among all other junior college teams at the Mountain Dew Cross Country Invitational at the University of Florida in Gainesville on Saturday, Sep 14th.  The field was one of the larger races the Falcons will see until the NJCAA championships in mid November.  With over 300 runners in the field, Coach Judy Wilson explains how it takes experience to run well in such a large field.  "With that many runners on the starting line, the first mile can be quite difficult to maneuver through.  This course was a little challenging in that there were some rolling hills and switchbacks, but all in all, our team handled it well.  We have a lot of things to work on, but that is why we run these meets before the big ones in late October and mid November."  Lead runner for the Falcons was Trina Spinelli, a New Symrna Beach resident and Holly Hill School teacher,  Spinelli met teammate Jenny Enslin at a road race this summer and Enslin convinced her to come run for Daytona State.  "Trina has never run cross country before, but her 20 minute 5k last May showed that she could handle junior college running."  Spinelli placed 132nd with a time of 20:55, followed by sophomore Kristine Gray who placed 165th with a time of 21:42.  Newcomer Hannah Offenback finished 178th, with a time of 21:54.  Rounding out the team scoring spots for DSC were sophomores Kylie Dedeo (216th) and Moriya Patsch (226th).   

Full results can be found here:   https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/15360/2019_Mountain_Dew_Gator_Cross_Country_Invitational