Florida Gators
Gator Invitational
Cross Country Teams Sweep Gator Invitational
Saturday, October 9, 1999 | Cross Country
Nearly 1300 participants were on hand Saturday for the 12th annual Gator Invitational Cross Country meet at the University of Florida Golf Course. In a six race meet which includes four high school competitions, the highlights were the two collegiate competitions which kicked off the day at 8 a.m.
Both the Florida women and the men came away with important victories at the Invitational. The 23rd-ranked Gator women packed five runners within 25 seconds of each other in the top-10 to finish first in the 16-team field with a score of 26. The men put six finishers in the top-15 including three under the 26-minute mark to take the top place of 19 teams with a team score of 22.
Senior Tamieka Grizzle (Bronx, N.Y.) led the women's team with a fourth place finish in 18:09.46. The Gators' biggest surprise came from junior Jennifer McGranahan who made her first appearance of the year after sitting out the first three meets of the year with an injured ankle. The Pensacola, Fla., native finished fifth just four seconds behind Grizzle in fifth place (18:13.53).
"I'm glad to be back," McGranahan said following the meet. "I just wanted to show my teammates I'm there for them.
"I was supposed to just get a good workout in and I got fifth."
Grizzle and McGranahan led a group of five Gators who all finished in the top-10 separated by just 25 seconds. Sophomore Nona Allen (Marietta, Ga.) was sixth (18:18:86) for her third top-10 finish of the season. Fellow sophomore Erin Merten (Jacksonville, Fla.) took seventh (18:25.10) and senior Ramona Saridakis (West Palm Beach, Fla.) took ninth (18:36.98) to round out the Gators' scoring five.
"Sometimes we win the individual title and sometimes we don't," coach J.J. Clark said. "But the bottom line is our team went out to win and that's what's important."
South Florida alumni Maria Otto won the race with a time of 17:41.32, the third best time in the history of the race. Sonja Shedden of UCF was second in 17:52.21 followed by Sarah Howard of Georgia State in third at 17:59.20.
Rob Evans once again led the way for the men's team, setting his third personal best of the year in his third race. The junior from Altamonte Springs, Fla., broke the 25-minute barrier for the first time in his career, taking second in 24:50.49 behind UF alumnus Mike Mykytok who won his third career Invitational in a time of 24:47.29.
Transfer Chris Duncan ran his best race of the year despite struggling through the last two weeks of practice with a bout of the flu. Duncan was fourth overall in a new 8k personal best of 25:23.80. He was followed for Florida by Rolando Ortiz (9th, 25:56.29) and Courtney Chambers (10th, 26:03.66) in the top 10. Senior Eddie Ernest-Jones, still recovering from mono, completed the scoring for Florida in 12th place (26:10.91)
"This was a good team effort," coach Doug Brown said. "Our spread and our times were faster than I expected. The team I expected to show up (two weeks ago at the Sam Bell Invitational) came this week, and this is the team that needs to show up at Michigan next week as well.
"We know we can do it now."
12th Annual Gator Invitational
University of Florida Golf Course
Saturday, October 9, 1999
WOMEN'S TEAM SCORES
1 Florida 26 3 4 5 6 8 12 25
2 UCF 69 1 13 15 18 22 23 29
3 Georgia State 91 2 11 19 26 33 38 39
4 Fla. Southern 93 10 14 20 21 28 34 58
5 Jacksonville University 150 7 27 32 40 44 46 53
6 Troy State University 166 9 30 35 43 49 75 82
7 Florida A&M University 178 17 36 37 41 47 56 67
8 Miami 209 16 31 45 54 63 64 73
9 Rollins College 260 24 48 55 57 76 84 87
10 Flagler College 302 50 60 61 65 66 72 74
11 Fla. Atlantic University 361 52 68 77 78 86
12 Embry-Riddle University 367 42 51 81 92 101 102
13 Warner Southern 382 62 71 79 80 90 94
14 Florida Tech 419 59 69 96 97 98
15 Tampa 442 83 85 88 91 95
16 Palm Beach Atlantic 451 70 89 93 99 100
Finals WOMEN'S 5,000 METER RUN (TOP 25)
1 Otto, Maria, USF TCub 17:41.32; 2 Shedden, Sonja, UCF 17:52.21; 3 Howard, Sarah, Georgia State 17:59.20; 4 Grizzle, Tamieka, Florida 18:09.46; 5 McGranahan, Jennifer, Florida 18:13.53; 6 Allen, Nona, Florida 18:18.86; 7 Merten, Erin, Florida 18:25.10; 8 Campos, Adriana, Jacksonville 18:32.97; 9 Saridakis, Ramona, Florida 18:36.98; 10 Heinzman, Kelly, Troy State 18:45.76; 11 Tatangelo, Allie, Fla. Southern 18:54.87; 12 Hughes, Brittanie, Georgia State 19:00.74; 13 Lopez, Eliana, Florida 19:01.14; 14 Dillman, Sara, UCF 19:06.87; 15 Vignali, Kristy, Fla. Southern 19:10.50; 16 Harrington, Brianne, UCF 19:11.27; 17 Geroux, Jennifer, Miami 19:19.78; 18 Brown, Jennifer, Florida A&M 19:21.69; 19 Rivera, Geana, UCF 19:22.25; 20 Harris, Laurie, Georgia State 19:31.25; 21 Peters, Taryn, Fla. Southern 19:34.06; 22 Clark, Rebecca, Fla. Southern 19:34.96; 23 Norris, Melissa, UCF 19:35.85; 24 Cameron, Stephanie, UCF 19:36.83; 25 Gustafson, Kaela, Rollins 19:38.39
OTHER GATOR FINISHERS:
26 Newton, Jessica, Florida 19:41.47; 41 Quiggle, Kellie, Florida, 20:01.24; 44 Bratton, Kamille, Florida 20:06.53; 70 Zientara, Amy, Florida 21:09.47; 74 Feltz, Erica, Florida 21:16.35; 97 Wagner, Kelly, Florida 22:31.69
MEN'S TEAM SCORES
1 Florida 22 1 2 5 6 8 10 11
2 Georgia State 69 3 14 16 17 19 21 22
3 UCF 84 7 12 18 23 24 26 31
4 Troy State University 152 9 13 15 29 86
5 Webber College 185 25 28 40 44 48 58 78
6 Fla. Southern 203 4 27 38 66 68
7 West Florida 239 33 42 43 46 75 79
8 Florida Tech 240 32 36 55 56 61 63 70
9 Embry-Riddle University 243 30 34 50 57 72 76 77
10 Florida A&M University 246 37 39 41 49 80
11 Stetson University 268 20 52 64 65 67 96 97
12 Jacksonville University 360 51 59 60 87 103
13 Fl. Atlantic University 379 35 69 73 100 102
14 Flagler College 382 62 71 74 83 92 114 115
15 Rollins College 410 54 82 89 91 94 101
15 Tampa 410 53 84 85 90 98 104 110
17 Warner Southern 437 45 93 95 99 105 109 112
18 Saint Leo University 454 47 81 107 108 111 113
19 Palm Beach Atlantic 545 88 106 116 117 118
Finals Men's 8,000 Meter Run (Top 25)
1 Mykytok, Mike, Alumni UF 24:47.29; 2 Evans, Rob, Florida 24:50.49; 3 Whiteside, Everett, Nike South 25:03.16; 4 Duncan, Chris, Florida 25:23.80; 5 Hollinger, Randy, Unattached 25:32.88; 6 Mott, Tee, Georgia State 25:39.10; 7 Lipham, Erik, Unattached 25:39.68; 8 Crossan, Gary, Fla. Southern 25:44.37; 9 Ortiz, Rolando, Florida 25:56.29; 10 Chambers, Courtney, Florida 26:03.66; 11 McCabe, Sean, UCF 26:07.30; 12 Ernest-Jones, Eddie, Florida 26:10.91; 13 Fesh, John, Troy State 26:16.50; 14 Bowen, Donnell, Florida 26:21.41; 15 Tanner, Marcus, Florida 26:21.81; 16 Antoine, Wayne, Florida 26:23.38; 17 Snelling, Lou, UCF 26:28.65; 18 Knorr, Jeremy, Florida 26:40.56; 19 Gilman, Sean, Troy State 26:45.37; 20 Horst, Ben, Georgia State 26:49.67; 21 Britton, Brandon, Troy State 26:56.17; 22 Fabian, Jeff, Unattached 26:59.71; 23 Irwin, Josh, Florida 27:04.70; 24 Gentiluomo, Giovanni, Georgia State 27:05.38; 25 Schiff, Adam, Unattached 27:06.19
OTHER GATOR FINISHERS:
33. Lee, Charles, Florida 27:25.97; 42 Peditto, Mike, Florida 27:54.25; 45 Ferris, Bryan, Florida 28:10.34
END OF REPORT
