Cross country women place 16th in Gainesville, Fla.

The Troy women’s cross country team finished 16th of 32 teams at the Mountain Dew Cross Country Invitational on Saturday hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida.

Christie Caruana led the Trojans with a time of 18:43.3 and an average mile time of 6:02.8, good enough to finish 25th of more than 300 runners in the 5K.

Caruana, a freshman, has led the women’s team at all three meets this season, and this meet was also her third-straight finish of 25th or better.

Behind Caruana, fellow freshman Mackenzie Walsh finished in 52nd with a time of 19:18.9 and an average mile time of 6:12.6.

Katherine Lowe was the last Trojan in the top 100, finishing 96th with a time of 20:07.0.

Krystin Guirey and Michaela Ashley placed 123rd and 126th, respectively, and senior Sarah Zysltra finished 155th to round out the day for the Trojans who placed.

Two Trojan freshmen did not finish the race.

The winner of the race was from the University of North Florida, but the hosting Florida Gators won the meet with the best total time of 1:32:24.

Schools from Florida accounted for 29 of the 32 schools competing, but Troy held its own to finish mid-pack.

The Trojans finished with a total time of 1:39:18, only seven minutes behind the Gators’ total time.

While the men did not race Saturday, they will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 30, when both teams compete at the JSU Foothills Invitational hosted by Jacksonville State University in Oxford, Alabama.