Florida Gators
Disney Cross Country Classic
Cross Country Teams Take Titles at Disney
Sunday, October 9, 2005 | Cross Country
The University of Florida men's and women's cross country teams won the collegiate races at the Disney Cross Country Classic today at Walt Disney's Wide World or Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The women placed first of 33 teams with 39 points, while the men were first of 30 teams with 34 points.
Florida's top seven finishers were all freshmen or sophomores. Sophomore Kristen Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) finished sixth overall and first among the Gators for the first time in her career. Her time of 17:59.67 earned her the fourth top 10 finish of her career. Sophomore Lindsay Sundell (Northport, N.Y.) finished seventh overall with a time of 18:02.66. Freshman Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) was Florida third finisher in eighth place overall with a career-best time of 18:10.16. Freshman LeeAnn Nawrocki (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) finished fourth among Gators and 11th overall with a 18:45.19 time in the 5K race. The Gators fifth-place finisher was freshman Kathryn Kramer (Tampa, Fla.) in 12th overall with a time of 18:48.25. Freshman Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) ran the 5K race in 18:58.02 to finish 16th. Sophomore Valeria Rodriquez (Miami, Fla.) rounded out the top seven in 19th place with a time of 19:04.88
The Florida men took only five athletes to the meet, the minimum number to be considered a team and handily won the meet by 50 points. Each of Florida's runners finished in the top 20. Redshirt freshman Patrick Troy (Gainesville, Fla.) finished third overall with a career-best time of 25:48.06 in the 8K race. Sophomore Al Matheny (Gainesville, Fla.) was fifth and second for Florida with a time of 25:56.61. Sophomore Scott Hans (Middlebury, Fla.) finished third among Gators and sixth overall with a time of 26:04.59. Junior Shane Stroup (Highland, Md.) ran a time of 26:09.39 to finish ninth overall. Newcomer sophomore Mike Hensley was the final Gator finisher in 14th place overall with a time of 26:20.68.
The Florida Cross Country team will be back in action next weekend at the Pre-NCAA Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday. Race times and other teams competing in the race will be released on Wednesday, October 12.
