Falcons Making Strides
The women's cross country team went up against four Region 8 schools at the B3R Invitational in Ocala on Friday evening in a 5,000 meter race held at the World Equestrian Center. Led by freshman Harleigh Bilz, the Falcons came close to knocking off Pasco Hernando State College. Finishing only eight points behind last year's Region 8 champs, the Falcons put two runners in front of PHSC's first runner. In only her second collegiate race, Bilz finished in third place with a time of 21:00, a full 79 seconds faster than her first outing two weeks ago. DSC's second runner was freshman Caitlyn Norfolk who posted a time of 21:57, good for fifth place and 66 seconds faster than her time two weeks ago. "The cooler weather does help a little bit, but these two are really doing well and are getting stronger each week. " Coach Judy Wilson said. Sophomore Sara Mott finished in third place for the Falcons and 10th place overall. "Sara has been putting in a lot of work and I'm excited for her to see the payoff soon." Wilson said. Julia Uvalle had a 45 second improvement and will be counted on to close up the gap on the Falcon top three. Freshman Nathaly Abastida (placing 17th with a time of 23:42) is running consistent in workouts and meets and Wilson sees this as a sign of good things to come by the end of October. "If you see that consistency in training, sometimes it can be frustrating seeing the same time in each race, but to me, it just means that that huge jump is coming soon." Rounding out the squad for the Falcons was Angel Khrino in 19th place with a time of 23:58, Abigail Koshiol in 25th place with a time of 25:40, and Alyssa Meaney with a time of 27:20.