Florida Gators
NCAA Pre-Nationals
Cross Country Women Place Fifth at Pre-Nationals; Men Take 12th
Saturday, October 18, 2008 | Cross Country
The No. 15 University of Florida women's cross country team finished fifth at the highly-competitive Pre-NCAA Invitational on Saturday. It marked their highest finish ever at this meet. The men had a strong showing, placing 12th, as senior Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla.) set a new Florida 8K record.
The women, running in a field of 41 teams in the blue division, scored 233 points. The Gators were lead by senior Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.), who finished 22nd overall in 20:52.3 in the Gators' first 6K race of the season. Freshman Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) placed 32nd overall and second for the Gators in a time of 21:05.4, ranking seventh all-time in the Florida record book for a 6K race. Sophomore Ali Crabb (St. Petersburg, Fla.) was the third Gator to cross the finish line, in 35th, two seconds behind LaCaze. Her time of 21:07.5 ranked eighth all-time on the 6K list.
“The top three [Kruzel, LaCaze and Crabb] continue to be tremendous,” Cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “They always put us in good position to finish strong.”
Sophomore Charlotte Browning (West Sussex, England) was the fourth finisher for UF, finishing 67th in a time of 21:28.2. Senior Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) rounded out the Florida scorers, placing 77th in 21:34.1. Sophomore Kaitlin Shiver (Satellite Beach, Fla.) finished 89th in a new personal-best time of 21:42.9 and senior Julie Northrup (Vero Beach, Fla.) finished 102nd in a personal-best 21:54.
“The women were great,” Morgan said. “They are establishing Florida as one of the top teams in the country and the performance today really gives us momentum heading into the SEC Championship. All seven runners recorded a spread less than one minute, which shows our depth. Usually teams want their first five runners to have a spread under one minute, but rarely do all seven make it.”
The men, running in the white division with 39 other teams, tallied 328 points. Criscione ran three-tenth of a second faster than he did in the same race in 2007 to finish sixth overall and break the Florida 8K record he set at the Pre-National meet one year ago. His 23:38.7 personal best is now the top time in UF record books.
“Jeremy [Criscione] had another strong, steady run,” Morgan said. “He is exciting to watch and we will continue to build on his success. He ran a patient and composed race.”
Junior Justin Taylor (St. Augustine, Fla.) was the second Gator to finish, clocking a time of 24:22.1 and setting a new personal best. Juniors Sean Blaney (Kissammee, Fla.) finished 50th in 24:24.4 and Aaron Kindt (Orlando, Fla.) finished 108th in 24:58.2. The final Gator to score was sophomore Anthony Morales (Palm Coast, Fla.) in 120th place in a time of 25:03.8.
“The men ran a solid race,” Morgan said. “We were not disappointed with the finish. We know we can run better, but overall, we were pleased with the effort and are looking forward to the next race.”
No. 1 Washington was the top finisher in the women's blue division, scoring 36 points. The Huskies were followed by No. 13 Villanova, No. 4 Minnesota and No. 9 Michigan State. The Gators were the top Southeastern Conference finishers, as Georgia finished 16th, Auburn 18th and Mississippi State 33rd. They placed ahead of No. 16 Wisconsin (sixth), No. 6 Stanford (seventh), No. 24 Rice (eighth), No. 27 New Mexico (10th), No. 21 Providence (11th), No. 26 BYU (12th) and No. 18 N.C. State (32nd).
No. 10 Stanford finished first in the men's white division, followed by No. 7 Iona, No. 18 BYU, No. 16 Auburn and No. 5 UCLA. The Gators finished ahead of No. 30 Michigan State (14th) and No. 21 Texas (27th), as well as SEC-foes Mississippi State (26th) and Ole Miss (38th).
Next up for the Gators is the SEC Championship on Nov. 3 in Starkville, Miss.
Women's Top 10 Team Results:
| Washington | 36 |
| Villanova | 126 |
| Minnesota | 198 |
| Michigan State | 215 |
| Florida | 233 |
| Wisconsin | 247 |
| Stanford | 248 |
| Rice | 263 |
| Iowa | 283 |
| New Mexico | 296 |
Women's Top 25 Agate and Additional Florida Finishers:
1. Brianna Felnagle, North Carolina, 20:02.4; 2. Hollie Knight, Auburn, 20:13.4; 3. Kendra Schaaf, Washington, 20:14.7; 4. Christine Babcock, Washington, 20:15.2; 5. Marie Lawrence, Washington, 20:17.8; 6. Nicole Bush, Michigan State, 20:19.1; 7. Gwen Jorgensen, Wisconsin, 20:19.3; 8. Katie Follett, Washington, 20:20.3; 9.Beverly Ramos, Kansas State, 20:20.6; 10. Danette Doetzel, Providence, 20:23.8; 11. Racheal Marchand, Iowa, 20:27.9; 12. Tarah McKay, Louisville, 20:29.1; 13. Bogdana Mimic, Villanova, 20:33.4; 14. Frances Koons, Villanova, 20:35.8; 15. Lauren Holesh, North Carolina, 20:36.0;16. Anita Campbell, Washington, 10:03 20:37.7; 17. Lisa Senakiewich, Michigan State, 20:38.7; 18. Megan Duwell, Minnesota, 20:45.2; 19. Nicole Mericle, Rice, 20:47.6; 20. Lennie Waite, Rice, 20:51.5; 21. Kari Summers, Ohio, 20:52.2; 22. Jacy Kruzel, Florida, 20:52.3; 23. Wendi Robinson, Indiana, 20:52.5; 24. Allison Pye, Rice, 20:53.5; 25. Kaitlyn Tallman, Villanova,20:53.9; 32. Genevieve LaCaze, Florida, 21:05.4; 35; Ali Crabb, Florida, 21:07.5; 67. Charlotte Browning, Florida, 21:28.2; 77. Sara Petrick, Florida, 21:34.1; 89. Kaitlin Shiver, Florida, 21:42.9; 102. Julie Northrup, Florida, 21:54.0
Men's Top 10 and Florida Results:
| Stanford | 77 |
| Iona | 123 |
| BYU | 154 |
| Auburn | 194 |
| UCLA | 196 |
| Virginia | 205 |
| Tulsa | 212 |
| Indiana | 219 |
| Colorado | 235 |
| Iowa State | 249 |
| Florida | 328 |
Men's Top 25 Agate and Additional Florida Finishers:
1. Samuel Chelanga, Liberty, 22:51.3; 2. Felix Kibioywo, Auburn, 23:35.5; 3. Garrett Heath, Stanford, 23:36.4; 4. Chris Derrick, Stanford, 23:37.0; 5. Girma Mesecho, Auburn, 23:37.5; 6. Jeremy Criscione, Florida, 23:38.7; 7. Jordan Kyle, Colorado, 23:39.9; 8. John Beattie, Tulsa, 5:47, 23:40.7; 9. Andrew Ledwith, Iona, 23:41.1; 10. Kiel Uhl, Iowa State, 23:43.4; 11. Elkanah Kibet, Auburn, 23:46.2; 12. Elliott Heath, Stanford, 23:48.1; 13. Guor Marial, Iowa State, 23:48.8; 14. Laef Barnes, UCLA, 23:49.4; 15. Harbert Okuti, Iona, 23:52.2; 16. Mohamed Khadraoui, Iona, 23:53.0; 17. Japheth Ng'ojoy, UTEP, 23:53.5; 18. Ryan Sheridan, Iona, 23:54.7; 19. Stephan Shay, BYU, 23:55.3; 20. Kyle Perry, BYU, 23:57.3; 21. Nicodemus Ng'etich, UTEP, 23:57.8; 22. Patrick Mutai, UTEP, 23:59.2; 23.Ryan Collins, Virginia, 24:00.9; 24.Hillary Bor, Iowa State, 24:04.3; 25. Hakon Devries, Stanford, 24:04.7; 44. Justin Taylor, Florida, 24:22.1; 50. Sean Blaney, Florida, 24:24.4; 108. Aaron Kindt, Florida, 24:58.2; 120. Anthony Morales, Florida, 25:03.8; 167. Matt Hensley, Florida, 25:27.9; 236. Josh Izewski, Florida, 26.23.5.
