VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's and women's cross country teams will open the 2024 season with the Border Clash here in Valdosta at Freedom Park on Friday, September 6. This is the sixth running of the meet, which started in 2017 and featured seven men's teams and eight women's teams. The men's 7.25k will start at 6:20 p.m. followed by the women's 5k at 7:00 p.m. Awards will follow.
 
Fans can attend the meet by heading to Freedom Park at 3795 Guest Road, Valdosta, GA 31605. There will be a total of five men's teams running, as Abraham Baldwin Agricultural, Florida Gateway, Florida State College (Jacksonville), Thomas and Valdosta State will be competing. On the women's side, a total of nine teams will be competing, as Abraham Baldwin Agricultural, Albany State, Daytona State, Florida Gateway, Florida State College (Jacksonville), Gulf Coast State, Pensacola State, Thomas and Valdosta State will look to bring home the bragging rights.
 
Since the meet began in 2017, Katherine Yost of Georgia College holds the all-time course record for the women's 5k, as she finished in a blazing 18:09.2 back in 2017. For the men, Mason Jones of Florida Southern finished the 7.25k with a time of 23:05.6 in 2021. For VSU, Blazer cross country legend Tyra Holloway holds the Valdosta State women's record for the 5k, as she clocked a time of 19:07.3 in the first running of the Border Clash back in 2017. For the men's 7.25k, Brishen House logged a time of 24:11.3 in 2021 to hold the Blazer men's record.
 
 
Other than the regular team race, the Border Clash compares top five times of the schools in Georgia versus all of the other bordering states competing to see which state wins the Border Clash and bragging rights! The state of Florida has won the women's race in the previous five seasons while the men's have won three times with the state of Georgia winning in 2017 and 2019.
 
Valdosta State is looking to open the season off strong, as both the men and the women are looking to compete at their home course on Friday night. For the women, they are headlined by the senior trio of Caitlyn Koske, Katie LaCroix, and Kyleigh Rice. Head coach Todd Smoot brought in a plethora of newcomers, as he welcomes five new faces to Titletown who will look to kick off their VSU careers in style. Valdosta State brings back three runners on the men's side, as junior Matthew Herndon, sophomore Aaron Munger, and graduate student Austen Sekowski will look to build off a solid 2023 campaign. Smoot welcomes in four newcomers, as they too are excited to represent the red and black at the Border Clash.
 
Results will be posted on vstateblazers.com following the race. Please visit our social media pages and check our website for updates regarding the event.