TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida A&M Women's Cross Country took part in the jam-packed 28-team field at the FSU Pre-Regional held at Apalachee Regional Park on Friday morning in Tallahassee, Florida.
 
Florida A&M scored 452 points in the 6-kilometer race, finishing ahead of 13 teams, including Jacksonville (463 points), Ave Maria (513), Lynn (526), Eckerd (581) and Bethune-Cookman (597), respectfully.
 
Rose Muturi, a junior from Nyahururu, Kenya, paced the Rattlers on the day, placing 42nd among 247 finishers with a time of 22:51.8.
 
Freshman Crystal Malaykhan, this week's Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), was the Rattlers' second scorer, taking 99th in 23:56.6.
 
Senior Christina Fitzpatrick followed in 113th (24:18.7), then junior Jaade McBride in 141st (24:56.9) and sophomore Leandra Ferrell in 144th (25:04.7).
 
Freshman Bree Brooks (159th, 25:23.1) and senior Nina Story (175th, 25:59.4) rounded out Florida A&M's top seven.
 
The Rattlers' top five runners averaged 24:13.7, with a two-minute, 12.9 second gap between the first and fifth finishers.
 
The host Florida State Seminoles won the team title with 17 points, placing five runners in the top six.
 
Rylee Blade won the individual race for the Seminoles in 20:39.2, followed by teammates Bieke Schipperen, a senior, in 20:44.5, and Nicole Dinan, a junior, in 20:51.2. Miami's Maddie Scheier, a senior, was fourth in 21:08.0.
 
Southern Miss was second with 112 points, followed by Miami (139), Florida Atlantic (150) and Embry-Riddle (155).
 
The Rattlers are back in action next as part of the FSU Cross Country Invitational back at Apalachee Regional Park on Friday, October 9.
 
Follow Florida A&M Athletics on Twitter (@FAMUathletics) for all the latest news and updates. Follow us on Instagram (@FAMUathletics) and Facebook (FAMUath) for even further behind-the-scenes action across all Rattlers Athletics.
 
Florida A&M Individual Performers
42.      Rose Muturi____________ 22:51.8
99.      Crystal Malaykhan_______ 23:56.6
113.    Christina Fitzpatrick______ 24:18.7
141.    Jaade McBride__________ 24:56.9
144.    Leandra Ferrell__________ 25:04.7
159.    Bree Brooks____________ 25:23.1
175.    Nina Story_____________ 25:59.4
DNF    Niya Coleman