Sept. 19, 2009

FSU Women Take First Place At Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational
The Florida State cross country teams wrapped up another successful meet in the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational where the No. 3 nationally-ranked women dominated the 4.6K run by posting 26 points to take first place with the No. 23 men earning second place with a total of 50 points. Atlantic Coast Conference rival and host Virginia Tech nabbed the men’s title while their women took third.

The women’s squad crushed the opposition by placing seven Seminoles in the top 10. Leading FSU on the warpath was team co-captain Pilar McShine with her second place finish of 16:25.2 alongside newcomer Pasca Cheruiyot who quickly followed in third place with a time of 16:25.8. Freshman Jessica Parry showed her garnet and gold with an impressive sixth-place finish in 16:43.4, while Amanda Quick (16:44.2) and Jennifer Dunn (16:45.4) earned seventh and eighth place, respectively. Rounding off the top 10 would be freshman Andrea Palen in ninth place with a time of 16:48.7 and tenth place belonging to senior Christina Woytalewicz finishing in 17:00.9.

The Seminole men were able to improve their times from the 2008 meet while also continuing training with three top 10 finishes. Pacing the Seminoles was Daniel Roberts in fourth place with a time of 23:49.8 with freshmen Wes Rickman quickly following with a time of 24:04.3 to take sixth place. Rounding off the top 10 was newcomer Ciaran O’Lionard in eighth place with a time of 24:31.4.

Tech men win the VT Alumni Invite
The Virginia Tech men’s cross country squad captured the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational title with 29 points, while the women’s squad placed third at the meet on Friday at the Tech Cross Country Course in the Hokies’ second competition of the season.

The Hokie men won their second straight meet after taking the VT Cross Country Relays crown on Sept 9. Sophomore Will Mulherin led Tech with a third-place showing, crossing the finish line in the 7.6k race in 23:46.9. Sophomore Brian Welch and junior Matt Kroetch followed Mulherin, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively. Freshman Jason Cusack placed ninth, and junior Eddie Judge earned 10th to round out the Hokie team scoring.

Tech racked up 29 points in the championship effort, followed by Florida State, who came in second with 50 points. UNC Charlotte took third with 92 points, followed by Ohio in fourth and Wake Forest fifth with 117 and 121 points, respectively.

Anna Nosenko Wins First-Ever Cross Country Title
Sophomore Anna Nosenko captured the individual 4.6-kilometer title at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational on Friday night at the Virginia Tech Home Cross Country Course. The Wake Forest women finished second behind third-ranked Florida State. The men's team came in fifth with a combined score of 121, with freshman Garret Drogosch leading the way in the 7.6K.

Anna Nosenko finished the course in 16:09.4, an astonishing 15 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, for her first-ever regular season cross country title.

Anna Nosenko has now finished first at both cross country events this season. She also placed first in the individual combined two-leg 5K time at the Wake Forest Relays on Sept. 4. 

Terp Women Win at NC State
Kristin Reed finished third individually to lead five Maryland runners in the top 11 and 10 runners in the top 17 as the Terrapins earned first place in the women's team standings Friday at the Wolfpack Invitational cross country meet held at the WakeMed Soccer Park.

On the men's side, Maryland finished second as a team as senior Greg Kelsey earned second place overall with a time of 14:40 on the 5-kilometer course.

Maryland finished with 24 points in the women's race. Host NC State was second with 38 points, with North Carolina A&T in third with 80 over the 5K course.

Hill Sets Course Record at Cross Country Opener
NC State athletes dominated both races Friday at the 2009 Wolfpack Invite. Sophomore Ryan Hill, running unattached, set a course 5K record in the men’s race, and Brittany Tinsley returned to action to win the women's race as the Wolfpack opened the 2009 season at the Wake Med cross country course with strong performances.

Hill, a true sophomore, won the men’s race with a course-record time of 14:35 for the 5K race. Unfortunately for the opposition, Hill was the only NC State athlete running unattached in the men’s race, and consequently that race was not close.

The Wolfpack officially ran 2-3-5-6-8-9-12 for a team score of 24, and that’s not counting Hill. Maryland was a distant second at 45. NC State runners and the Wolfpack had seven of the top 10 runners and eight of the top 16.

Tar Heels Take Individual Wins at UNC Challenge
While the University of North Carolina cross country program took second place for both women's and men's team finals at the UNC Challenge on Friday, individuals certainly took high honors. Freshman Mariana Lucena, in her second race as a Tar Heel, and sophomore Evan Watchempino took first place for the women's 5000-meters and the men's 8000-meters, respectively.

Lucena also earned a personal best time of 17:30.90, shaving close to 45 seconds off her best 5000-meter finish. Caroline Kirby, a redshirt freshman transfer from N.C. State, ran unattached from Carolina but took fourth place. Close behind in fifth place was sophomore Cara Hayes with an 18:07.80 finish. A slew of freshmen also competed in the UNC Challenge: Nicole Suarez finished seventh, Michelle Lutz took 11th followed by Courtney Whittington in 12th and Alexa Gellman placed 17th.

On the men's side, Watchempino finished in the lead for the second straight year with a 24:57.10 time. Redshirt sophomore Adam Cunningham and senior Zack Dawson took fourth and fifth places, respectively. Stephen Bloemeke, a senior who is returning to the team after a leave of absence, finished in seventh place. Freshman Logan Rosenberg took 14th followed by Seth Crawford, who ran as an individual unattached from Carolina, followed close behind in 15th place. 

Clemson Women Second, Men Fourth on Friday at Mountaineer Open
The Clemson women finished runner-up and the men's team was fourth Friday afternoon at the Mountaineer Open on the campus of Appalachian State University. It was the second meet of the young season for the Tiger cross country teams.

The women tallied 60 points, finishing behind only the host Mountaineers (49). UNC Wilmington was third out of 10 teams in the women's race with 65 points. On the men's side, Ohio State won with 27 points. Queens University recorded 41, while Appalachian State was third with 68. Clemson was fourth with 106 total points.

Kim Ruck made her season debut an outstanding one, as she took home runner-up honors in the 5K women's race. Ruck, who walked on to the team last fall, posted a solid time of 17:53.86. Kelsey Armstrong, ACC Performer-of-the-Week on Sept. 7, was well back but did manage a third-place finish. She had a time of 18:47.54 in her first trip to Boone.

Top-10 Finishes for Miami at Mountain Dew Invite
The University of Miami cross country teams traveled to Gainesville, Fla. to compete in the Mountain Dew Invitational and both teams recorded top-10 finishes in the 21st annual event on Friday evening.

For the second straight race, sophomore Janet Price led the women, crossing the finish line in 19:49.29. Fellow sophomore Anna Bona was the second Hurricane to finish at 20:11.50.

In their first race of the season, juniors Caitlin Knapp and Emma Steppe ran a 20:17.45 and a 20:24.99 respectively. Another junior, Katharine Woodard was the fifth Miami runner at 20:31.30. Also scoring for the women was sophomore Nehali Patel and junior Jackie Sullivan.