Sept. 18, 2004
NEWBERRY - The UCF men's cross country team took fourth and the women grabbed ninth at the Gator Invitational at Canterbury Equestrian Showplace on Saturday morning. It was the first meet of the season for both Knight teams.
With four top 50 efforts in the 8K men's race, the Golden Knights collected 151 points to finish fourth in a field of 21 squads. Georgia was first with 30 points followed by host Florida (32 pts.), Florida Southern (130) and Miami (135).
Freshman Jake Wilke paced UCF as he placed 27th with a time of 26:55.01 in his collegiate debut. Sophomores Brent and Ryan White were 37th and 40th, respectively. Rounding out the Knights' top five were senior Brian Sharbono in 49th at 27:36.82 and junior Ray Gossage in 53rd with a time of 28:00.49.
Junior captain Astrid Claessens put in the top UCF women's performance finishing 29th at 19:15.56 in the 5K race. Senior transfer Marivi Mercado was 48th at 19:49.90, while junior Valerie Tabor placed 76th. Freshmen Allison Palmer and Elizabeth Miller also contributed points in their Black & Gold debut crossing the finish line in 81st and 87th.
Georgia also took top honors in the women's side with 29 points followed by UF (81 pts.), USF (89), Tampa (121) and North Florida (155) rounding out the top five of the 22-team field. UCF earned 263 points for ninth.
Next up, the Golden Knights take on Florida Atlantic in the UCF-Dual Meet in Clermont on Friday, Sept. 24 at 5:30 p.m.
Individual Men's Results (184 athletes)27.Jake Wilke, 26:55.0137.Brent White, 27:26.7340. Ryan White, 27:36.1549.Brian Sharbono, 27:56.8753.Ray Gossage, 28:00.4973.Paul Fitzpatrick, 28:39.5282.Kiley Blake, 28:58.0389.Paul Nielson, 29:12.78103.Chucky Jones, 29:50.67
Individual Women's Results (194 athletes)29.Astrid Claessens, 19:15.5648.Marivi Mercado, 19:49.9076.Valerie Tabor, 20:31.0081.Allison Palmer, 20:38.7087.Elizabeth Miller, 20:47.1890.Kristen Ziemeski, 20:49.30103.Christina Jones, 21:10.10120.Amanda Peters, 21:40.74125.Jackie Magee, 21:46.39