Florida Gators
NCAA Championship
Cross Country Finishes 22nd and 26th at NCAA Championships
Tuesday, November 21, 2006 | Cross Country
The University of Florida men's cross country team had their best NCAA finish since 1997, finishing 22nd, while the Florida women finished 26th in their first NCAA appearance since 1999 at the 2006 NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. on Monday afternoon.
The men's 22nd-place finish was its best finish since finishing 22nd in 1997. It was also a one-place improvement from a year ago.
Junior Steven Hassen (Ocala, Fla.) was Florida's top finisher in 61st place. It was the best finish by a Gator in the NCAA Championships since Mike Mykytok finished 27th in 1991 as an individual qualifier. Hassen ran the 10K race in a time of 32:08.3. Sophomore Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla.) finished second for the Gators and 109th overall with a time of 32:40.9. Florida's third finisher was senior Ryder Leary (Yulee, Fla.), who ran a 32:54.7 in his last collegiate cross country race to finish 133rd. Junior Jose Garcia (Miami, Fla.) finished fourth for the Gators and 178th overall, clocking a time of 33:27.8. Rounding out the Florida scoring five was junior Enoch Nadler (Keystone Heights, Fla.) in 196th Senior Daniel Parker (Orlando, Fla.) finished sixth and freshman Justin Taylor (St. Augustine, Fla. was Florida seventh finisher in 224th and 244th with times of 34:12.6 and 35:05.2, respectively.
“I thought the course was really muddy today,” top Florida men's finisher Steven Hassen said. “As a team we had an off day. We ran well at the conference meet this year, but just didn't do what we wanted to today. We will return a lot of guys next year. We have to build off what we did this year and keep pushing to do well through the end of the season. Right now, we are going to have to regroup and get ready for indoor track in January.”
“I am real excited about what Steven Hassen did today,” head coach Jeff Pigg said. “Jeremy Criscione had a solid day. Ryder Leary ran one of the best meets of his career in his last meet as a Gator. We were thrilled with the performance of our first through third finishers, but we all need to push to continue to get better. Like Steven said, 22nd is better than last year, but we are a better team than that and now they are motivated to train hard for the indoor track season.”
The Florida women finished 26th of 31 teams in their first NCAA Championship appearance since 1999. The Gators ran well as a team with all seven runners finishing within a minute of each other. Sophomore Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) was Florida's top finisher in 71st place overall with a time of 21:52.5. Senior Jamie Geissler (Spokane, Wash.) held steady as Florida's second finisher in 119th with a time of 22:17.5. Florida's last five runners all finished within 25 places of each other. Sophomore Kathryn Kramer (Tampa, Fla.) was the third Gator finisher in 155th, clocking a time of 22:32.1. Junior Kristen Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) finished in 163rd overall and 4th for Florida with a time of 22:36.5. Sophomore LeeAnn Nawrocki (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) moved up into Florida's scoring five with a time of 22:40.1 in 170th. Junior Lindsay Sundell (Fort Salonga, N.Y.) finished in 176th (22:44.6), while Devin Gapstur rounded out the Florida finishers in179th with a time of 22:48.5.
“Our women ran very well for finishing 26th,” Pigg said. Those places were impressive. We were excited thinking that we might finish around 21st. We were disappointed with 26th, but not disappointed with the effort. Sometimes the first time at the NCAA meet can be overwhelming, but these athletes were ready to run and see what they could do. We will build on this. We are all looking forward to a year from now and improving on what we did today. We grew as a program today.”
“It was a really positive experience,” top Florida women's finisher Jacy Kruzel said. “We had nothing to lose. We just needed to put our best foot forward and see how we lined up against the best teams in the country. It was an awesome opportunity. With nearly everyone returning next year we will all have one more year of experience and be ready to do this again. We will bet that much more motivated because we know the great opportunity that comes from all our hard work during the year.
Stanford took the women's team title with 195 points. Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech won the individual women's title. The Arkansas women led the four Southeastern teams, finishing fifth overall with 286 points. Georgia finished 15th with 401 points and Tennessee was behind the Gators in 28th with 565 points.
Colorado took the men's team title with 94 points. Josh Rohatinsky from BYU took the individual title with a time of 30:44.9. Arkansas was the top finishing team in the SEC at . Despite finishing third at the South Regional meet, Florida was the top finishing team from the South Region as Florida State was 30th and Alabama was 31st.
Women's Team Results
1. Stanford – 195; 2. Colorado – 223; 3. Michigan – 233; 4. Wisconsin – 262; 5. Arkansas – 286; 6. Texas Tech – 300; 7. Providence – 301; 8. Illinois – 304; 9. UC-Santa Barbara – 318; 10. Duke – 320; 11. Minnesota – 335; 12. Michigan State – 358; 13. Arizona State – 375; 14. Virginia – 383; 15. Georgia – 401; 16. Georgetown – 403; 17. Iowa – 409; 18. Virginia Tech – 417; 19. NC State – 427; 20. Iona – 431; 21. Florida State – 436; 22. BYU – 448; 23. Princeton – 454; 24. Colorado State – 475; 25. Weber State – 488; 26. Florida – 536; 27. Wake Forest – 554; 28. Tennessee – 565; 29. Baylor – 631; 30. Boston College – 661; 31. North Carolina – 755.
Florida Women's Individual Finishers
71. (59) Jacy Kruzel, 21:52.5
119. (90) Jamie Geissler, 22:17.5
155. (122) Kathryn Kramer, 22:32.7
163. (129) Kristen Johnson, 22:36.5
170. (136) LeeAnn Nawrocki, 22:40.1
176. (141) Lindsay Sundell, 22:44.6
179. (144) Devin Gapstur, 22:48.5
(xxx) is the place for team scoring purposes.
Men's Team Results
1. Colorado – 94; 2. Wisconsin – 142; 3. Iona – 172; 4. Stanford – 195; 5. Oregon – 196; 5. Arkansas – 196; 7. Texas – 246; 8. William & Mary – 292; 9. Providence – 293; 10. Oklahoma State – 356; 11. BYU – 367; 12. Washington – 414; 13. Cal Poly – 441; 14. Virginia – 446; 15. Louisville – 458; 16. NC State – 469; 17. Michigan State – 473; 18. Portland – 487; 19. Notre Dame – 495; 20. Kansas – 509; 21. Arizona – 517; 22. Florida – 521; 23. UCLA – 546; 24. Georgetown – 547; 25. Butler – 550; 26. American – 552; 27. UC-Santa Barbara – 553; 28. Iowa – 580; 29. Washington State – 595; 30. Florida State – 602; 31. Alabama – 683.
Florida Men's Individual Finishers
61. (38) Steven Hassen, 32:08.3
109. (80) Jeremy Criscione, 32:40.9
133. (101) Ryder Leary, 32:54.7
178. (143) Jose Garcia, 33:27.8
196. (159) Enoch Nadler, 33:40.5
224. (187) Daniel Parker, 34:12.6
244. (206) Justin Taylor, 35:05.2
