VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State cross country teams will head southwest to Tallahassee, Fla. this Friday, Oct. 2 to compete in the 2020 Florida State Invitational.
 
The men are set to race first at 8:30 a.m. in the 8K Men's Collegiate Open which is compiled of 11 schools, with Valdosta State being one of two Division II schools competing. Notably, Division I schools competing in Friday's open are Florida International University, Florida State University, University of South Alabama, and Mercer University. The men's team is coming off a first-place finish at the Julius Johnson Memorial Invitational behind strong efforts from junior Brishen House, senior Nick Flatt, and sophomore Logan Kraus who finished first, second, and third overall.
 
The women will race at 9:05 a.m. in the 5K Women's Collegiate Open which is made up of 10 schools, with Valdosta State being one of two Division II schools while the rest of the field are Division I schools. A race compiled of mostly Division I schools is not something new to the women's team as they placed third at the Julius Johnson Memorial Invitational which was made up of all Division I schools besides Valdosta State. Senior Angie Cipriani will aim for another top finish after she placed second overall in the Julius Johnson Memorial Invitational with a time of 18:55.78.
 
Although there are a few less teams competing this year at the Florida State Invitational, both teams will look to improve upon last year's finish as they have shown valiant efforts so far in the 2020 season.
 
Live stats will be available during the race at vstateblazers.com. Visit vstateblazers.com for information on both cross country teams and all of VSU's 12 intercollegiate athletic programs.