Oct. 30, 2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Led by all-conference performances from freshman Jake Wilke and junior Astrid Claessens, the UCF cross country teams finished third and four, respectively, at the 2004 Atlantic Sun Championship at the Vaughn Creek Cross Country Course on Saturday morning.
Wilke finished sixth overall in the meet with a time of 27:05.57 in the 8K to take both A-Sun All-Conference and All-Freshman Team honors. He fell just short of the conference freshman of the year award, which went to Georgia State's Jay Morrill with a time of 26:51.07.
Also placing in UCF's top seven was junior Chucky Jones in 23rd at 28:36.98 followed by junior Ray Gossage in 25th at 28:48.46 and sophomore Ryan White in 26th at 29:01.20. Sophomore Brent White also scored by coming in 32nd with a time of 29:29.30.
Freshman Paul Fitzpatrick was 38th at 29:49.06 and senior Brian Sharbono crossed the finish line in 29:53.71 for 39th place.
The Golden Knights collected 112 points to earn third place, duplicating their showing of a year ago. Meet host Belmont took top honors for the fourth consecutive year with 31 points, while GSU was second with 42. Rounding out the top five teams was Campbell in fourth (117 points) and Lipscomb in fifth (158).
Classens also earned all-conference honors for the first time in her career after coming in seventh overall at 19:05.78. Junior Michelle Brouillet and freshman Allison Palmer finished 33rd and 34th, while another freshman Elizabeth Miller placed 39th with a time of 20:27.44. Closing out the UCF scorers were senior transfer Marivi Mercado in 42nd, sophomore Christina Jones in 54th and redshirt freshman Kristen Zieminski in 60th.
The Knights earned 151 points to rank fourth among the A-Sun's 11 squads. Belmont also won the ladies title for the fourth straight year followed by Florida Atlantic (77 points) and Georgia State (90). Campbell took fifth with 156 points.
Up next, UCF travels to the NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala. on Nov. 13.