Sept. 12, 2013

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina hits the road for the first time this fall, as the cross country team heads to the 25th annual Mountain Dew Invitational hosted by Florida.

The 6000-meter women’s race is slated for an 8:30 a.m. EDT start on the Mark Bostic Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla. This same course will host the 2013 Southeastern Conference Championships on Nov. 1, and three other teams, Auburn, LSU and Tennessee, join the Gamecocks in getting a preview of the course this Saturday.

Other teams participating include a plethora of Florida-based Division I schools like Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida International, Miami, North Florida, Stetson, UCF and USF. A total of 25 women’s teams are slated to compete in Saturday’s race.

For South Carolina, it will be the 2013 team’s first test at the championship distance. While all-region performer Kayla Lampe remains sidelined, the Gamecocks take a deep roster to the Sunshine State. Captains Meredith Mill and Penny Boswell along with Gamecock Invitational #1 winner Anna Todd hold the top-three times on the team this fall, while freshmen Mary Reiser, Martha McCoy and Melanie Ng stand among South Carolina’s top eight runners after one collegiate race for each of them. Sophomores Christine Kent, Brandy Wybersky and Stephanie Berger also look to improve upon their times in the Carolina Challenge. Rounding out the squad for the weekend are junior Alex Mullin, freshman Sarah Falta, sophomores Allie Whitley and Courtney Swink as well as freshman Brittany Day.

Full results will be available on Saturday at GamecocksOnline.com.