Florida Gators
Penn Relays
T&F Opens Penn Relays In Style As Sundell Wins Women's Steeple
Friday, April 25, 2008 | Track and Field
Senior Lindsay Sundell (Ft. Salonga, N.Y.) took first place in the women's steeplechase on Thursday night to help lead the No. 4 (men)/7 (women) University of Florida track & field team kick off the Penn Relays on a positive note.
“I think we came out tonight and did a good job of getting the weekend underway,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “We had some personal and seasonal bests tonight, and that was indicative of the effort we've been putting in recently. You can't ask much more of your athletes than to come out perform at their best, and we experienced some success tonight.”
Sundell, the school record holder in the women's steeplechase, came charging up from third place at the beginning of the final lap to win the event on Thursday night with a time of 10:18.51, besting the field by more than six seconds. Sundell's time marked an NCAA regional-qualifying standard, just three tenths of a second shy of her season best.
“Being from the New York area, this was a great win for Lindsay,” Holloway said. “She had some friends and family here to watch her run tonight, and to see her come back like that in the latter stages was terrific.”
The men's 5,000m was next on the schedule, and two Gators raced to spots in the top 20, as junior Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla.) led the way with a career-best and NCAA regional-qualifying time of 14:09.44 to turn in a 12th-place showing. Senior Steven Hassen (Ocala, Fla.) clocked in at 14:20.71 to follow in the 18th position.
Junior Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) took eighth in the women's 10,000m to wrap up the night, missing an NCAA provisional time by less than a minute with a mark of 35:45.04, which eclipsed her personal best by nearly a full minute. Classmate Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) placed 22nd in the event with a time of 37:44.89.
The Gators will continue competition at the Penn Relays on Friday, while a another group of UF athletes will open their weekend at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. Live results for both events will be available via www.GatorZone.com.
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