Florida Gators
NCAA Championship
Women's Cross Country Team Places 17th at NCAA Championship; Criscione Earns All-American Honor
Monday, November 24, 2008 | Cross Country
On a windy, rainy afternoon, the University of Florida women's cross country team placed 17th out of 31 teams at the NCAA Championships on Monday, in Terre Haute, Ind. Senior Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla.), running in his final cross country race as a Gator, finished 20th overall, earning his first-ever All-American honor.
Running as an individual, Criscione put in a career-best time of 29:55.9 to place 20th overall. It marked the first time in his career he finished a 10K in under 30 minutes. Not only did he achieve his first All-American accolade, he is the first cross country All-American since Mike Bilyeu and Mike Blaney earned the honor in 1986.
Criscione's time also ranks third all-time in Florida record books for best NCAA Championship time and ninth all-time for fastest 10K overall time.
“Jeremy ran a great race today,” Coach Todd Morgan said. “He is such a phenomenal person to have in our program. It meant a lot to me and to [Head Coach] Mike Holloway to see him finish his cross country career so strongly. He carried himself well through the whole race and he worked really hard to break through the crowd and come out in 20th. He was an asset to the Florida cross country program.”
The No. 16 Lady Gators tallied 454 points in their third consecutive bid at the Championship. Freshman Genevieve LaCaze (Queensland, Australia) led the way with a 75th-place finish in a time of 21:00.3. She was followed by sophomore Charlotte Browning (West Sussex, England), finishing 82nd in 21:03.4. The third Gator to cross the finish line was senior Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) in 122nd place in 21:21.1. Sophomore Ali Crabb (St. Petersburg, Fla.) placed 147th in 21:34.2. The first four Gators were also the top-four finishers at the NCAA South Regional and the Southeastern Conference Championships this season. The final UF runner to score was sophomore Kaitlin Shiver (Satellite Beach, Fla.), who set a new personal best time of 21:37.3 and placed 154th.
“The women ran hard today,” Morgan said. “We accomplished a lot this season; we finished in the top 20 today and we were the runners-up at the SEC Championship and the South Region Championship. These girls showed fight and focus all season. We can really see the direction this program is headed in. We are looking forward to a successful track season.”
Senior Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) placed 183rd in 21:49.9 and junior Julie Northrup finished 228th in 22:30.2 to round out the Florida participants.
The No. 1 Washington Huskies placed first overall, followed by No. 2 Oregon and No. 3 Florida State. The Gators finished ahead of No. 10 Wisconsin (21st) and SEC-foe Kentucky (31st).
Florida Men Finisher
| 20. Jeremy Criscione | 29:55.9 |
NCAA Men's Champion
| Galen Rupp, Oregon | 29:03.9 |
Women's Top 10 Team & Florida Results
| 1. Washington | 79 |
| 2. Oregon | 131 |
| 3. Florida State | 163 |
| 4. West Virginia | 198 |
| 5. Princeton | 220 |
| 6. Villanova | 248 |
| 7. Texas Tech | 272 |
| 8. Stanford | 299 |
| 9. Georgetown | 305 |
| 10. Illinois | 318 |
| 17. Florida | 454 |
Florida Women Finishers
| 75. Genevieve LaCaze | 21:00.3 |
| 82. Charlotte Browning | 21:03.4 |
| 122. Jacy Kruzel | 21:21.1 |
| 147. Ali Crabb | 21:34.2 |
| 154. Kaitlin Shiver | 21:37.3 |
| 183. Sara Petrick | 21:49.9 |
| 228. Julie Northrup | 22:30.2 |
NCAA Women's Champion
| Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech | 19:28.1 |
