New College of Florida Men's and Women's Cross Country each recorded the fastest average team time in program history Friday morning at the Florida State XC Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park.

The Mighty Banyan men finished the 8K with a program-record average time of 28:51.14, placing 21st in the 23-team field with 619 points. The NCF women posted a program-record average of 29:13.14 in the 6K, finishing 24th among 28 teams with 789 points.

The meet featured runners from NCAA Division I programs Florida State, Miami, Southern Miss, South Florida, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Stetson, Jacksonville, Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman.

MEN'S RECAP

Junior Cole Fleming led NCF for the third consecutive race, finishing 143rd overall with a time of 28:10.2. Fleming improved his time by more than 49 seconds from the St. Thomas University Bobcat Invitational.

Junior Natheer Suied followed closely behind, placing 145th in 28:13.2. Suied cut more than 1 minute, 35 seconds from his previous 8K time.

Freshman Jackson Smith was NCF's third finisher, crossing the line in 28:43.5. Smith delivered the largest improvement by a Mighty Banyan man, lowering his time by more than 3 minutes, 38 seconds.

Junior Bryce Blalock placed 180th with a time of 29:12.3, an improvement of more than 45 seconds. Sophomore Alex Llanos completed NCF's five-runner scoring lineup in 29:56.5.

Freshman Keith Smith Jr. crossed the line in 30:14.2, cutting more than 1 minute, 46 seconds from his previous 8K. Junior Julian Guinand followed in 30:17.6, while freshman Jaxon Alonso completed the course in 31:18.3.

Sophomore Pierce Mihailoff rounded out the NCF lineup in 33:15.6, improving his time by more than 10 seconds.

WOMEN'S RECAP

Freshman Mireille Gomez led the Mighty Banyan women for the third consecutive race, finishing 177th overall with a time of 26:04.0.

Sophomore Arianna Childs was NCF's second finisher, completing the 6K in 27:43.4. Childs improved her time by 1 minute, 39 seconds from the Bobcat Invitational.

Freshman Rylie Yoachum followed closely behind with a time of 27:55.6, lowering her previous 6K time by more than 40 seconds.

Sophomore Abby Retberg crossed the line in 31:35.2, improving by more than 1 minute, 55 seconds. Freshman Eliza Larramendi-Cruz completed NCF's five-runner scoring lineup in 32:47.5, cutting more than 27 seconds from her previous performance.

Junior Alicia Reynolds rounded out the Mighty Banyan contingent in 33:17.4. Reynolds recorded the largest improvement by an NCF woman, lowering her 6K time by more than 2 minutes, 54 seconds.

BY THE NUMBERS

11: NCF runners improved their times from the St. Thomas University Bobcat Invitational while competing at the same distance.

3:38.63: Jackson Smith's improvement from his previous 8K, the largest by a Mighty Banyan man.

2:54.17: Reynolds' improvement from her previous 6K, the largest by a Mighty Banyan woman.

1:55.77: Retberg's improvement from her previous 6K performance.

15: Mighty Banyans completed Friday's races.

UP NEXT: New College of Florida returns to competition Oct. 9 at the Sun Conference Preview, hosted by Ave Maria University.