Montevallo, Ala. – The Valdosta State men's and women's cross country team open the 2023 season on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023, at the Falcon Classic at the University of Montevallo. The women will be competing in a 5K beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET, while the men will run an 8K beginning at approximately 9:15 p.m. ET.
 
Valdosta State will be competing against twenty-three (23) other schools in the Falcon Classic, with six of them being in the Gulf South Conference. Those schools are Alabama Huntsville, Delta State, Montevallo, Shorter, West Alabama, and West Georgia.
 
The Blazers were supposed to open their 2023 season on September 1^st, but due to the damages of Hurricane Idalia at Freedom Park in Valdosta, the 2023 VSU Blazer Border Clash was canceled.
 
For the men's team, the Blazers are looking to build off a strong finish to the season and continue their ascent in the GSC. Graduate student Logan Kraus is expected to lead the way for VSU, coming off a terrific season where he finished 37^th in the NCAA DII Regional Cross Country Championships in 2022. Along with Kraus, Valdosta State returns sophomore Matthew Herndon, graduate student Adam Mastrobuono, junior Alec Munger, and graduate student Austen Sekowski. VSU brought in three sets of new legs in Royce Eggert, Nathan Haller, Aaron Munger, and Jake Pearson.
 
On the women's side, the Blazers have a total of three returners to go along with the two new freshmen coming in to help the Blazers compete this upcoming season. Of the returners, junior Caitlyn Koske is looking to build from a strong finish to the 2022 season where she finished 64^th in the NCAA DII Regional Cross Country Championship. Her fellow returners are seniors Katie LaCroix and Kyleigh Rice. Charlotte Carley and Leah John are joining the team as freshman and are looking to contribute to the team right away.
 
Click Here for the schedule for the men's cross country team
Click Here for the schedule for the women's cross country team