Oct. 9, 2004
LAKE BUENA VISTA - The UCF men's cross country team placed fourth and the women were eighth at the Ninth Annual Disney Classic on Saturday morning.
It was a banner day for the Golden Knights as the scoring five all finished in the top 50. Freshman Jake Wilke posted a regular season record time of 25:26.60 in the men's five-mile race and placed eighth. His performance also ranks him fourth all-time at UCF and is six seconds off the school's freshman record.
Sophomore Ryan White posted a career best time of 26:28.26 for 30th, while senior tri-captain Kiley Blake broke his own curse on the Disney course and ran a 26:31.16 for 32nd place.
Junior Chucky Jones finished just behind Blake in 35th at 26:31.62, while sophomore Brent White also scored placing 41st at 26:40.70.
Overall, Florida topped the 31-team field with 45 points followed by Berry (104 points) in second. Two points separated the third through fifth place teams - Miami (127 points), UCF (128) and Florida Southern (129).
"Overall, I was ecstatic with the how we ran the men's race," said head coach Marcia Mansur-Wentworth. "Jake ran brilliantly and Kiley had his best race ever on this course. I was very pleased."
The women didn't fair as well as only two athletes finished in the Top 50. Junior Astrid Claessens continued her dominance as the Knights' top runner finishing 19th at 18:46.60, while freshman Allison Palmer had a personal best time of 19:19.14 and took 42nd. Rounding out the UCF scoring five were sophomore Christina Jones in 76th at 19:52.75, sophomore Kristen Ziemeski in 77th at 19:53.27 and senior Marivi Mercado at 20:00.49. In all, 22 runners competed for UCF.
In team scoring, the Gators also took top prize in the women's field of 32 with 32 points, followed by Tampa (77), Florida Atlantic (111), Florida Southern (135) and Florida International (160). The Knights collected 244 points.
The Golden Knights will split up next weekend with part of the team heading to the Stetson Hatter Invitational on Oct. 15 and the others traveling to the Chile Pepper Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas on Oct. 16.
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Individual Men's Results (267 competitors) 8. Jake Wilke, 25:26.60 30. Ryan White, 26:28.26 32. Kiley Blake, 26:31.16 35. Chucky Jones, 26:31.63 41. Brent White, 26:40.70 60. Paul Fitzpatrick, 27:09.45 61. Brian Sharbono, 27:10.35 94. Paul Nielsen, 27:46.03 110. Ray Gossage, 27:59.85
Individual Women's Results (301 competitors) 19. Astrid Claessens, 18:46.60 42. Allison Palmer, 19:19.14 76. Christina Jones, 19:52.75 77. Kristen Ziemeski, 19:53.27 83. Marivi Mercado, 20:00.49 89. Valerie Tabor, 20:05.34 92. Michelle Brouillet, 20:08.05 105. Andrea Morrow, 20:21.94 118. Jackie Magee, 20:32.14 128. Amanda Peters, 20:43.98 142. Elizabeth Miller, 20:59.38 167. Melissa Gonzalez, 21:36.47 168. Annie Lolagne, 21:36.99 197. Michelle Westhoff, 22:02.42 213. Meaghan Armes, 22:26.51 225. Colleen Yuskaitis, 22:38.80 235. Carla Portilla, 22:50.04 245. Kylene Colasanti, 23:03.24 276. Melissa Leen, 25:09.03 279. Tavia Record, 25:35.24 284. Theresa Manahan, 26:08.94 293. Rebecca Rojas, 27:25.80