Nov. 12, 2004
ORLANDO - The UCF cross country teams will try to build upon their top five finishes at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships two weeks ago when they compete at the NCAA South Regional on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Headlining the list of seven men that will represent the Golden Knights at the meet is freshman Jake Wilke. The team's No.1 runner, he earned all-conference honors thanks to his sixth place performance at the A-Sun meet. Earlier this season, at the Chili Pepper Cross Country Festival in Fayetteville, Ark., he broke the school's freshman record in the 10K with a time of 32:22.0 and earned the Atlantic Sun Runner of the Week award for his effort.
Twins Brent and Ryan White also ran well in Arkansas with personal best times just over 33 minutes in the 10K. Brent ran in the top 100 with a time of 33:34.68 at the NCAA South Regional, while Ryan didn't compete.
Senior captain Kylie Blake is making his third trip to the NCAA Regionals after two top 100 showings in the last two races. An illness kept him from performing well at conference, but he has rebounded from that and will be looking to better his career best mark of 33:27.59 in the 10K. Junior Ray Gossage is also looking to end his year on a high note after struggling early
Junior Chucky Jones and senior Brian Sharbono are competing in their first regional meet.
Good individual performances add up to a better team score and the Golden Knights are hoping to improve from their 13th place showing a year ago.
Meanwhile, junior captain Astrid Claessens and freshman Allison Palmer continue to the lead the UCF women with their consistency on race day. Claessens has run No. 1 for the Knights all year and is coming off an all-conference performance at the A-Sun Championship. She posted a time of 22:49 in the 6K at the Chili Pepper Festival, which ranks fifth all-time at UCF.
A walk-on, Palmer has been a welcome surprise for the Golden Knights this fall as she hasn't slipped out of the top five all season. She ran the 6K in 23:37 at Arkansas, a time that is 10th overall and fourth among freshmen in the program's history.
Palmer and Claessens will be looking for support from juniors Michelle Brouillet and Andrea Morrow, and freshmen Elizabeth Miller and Kristen Zieminiski to help improve the team's showing of 15th at the 2003 NCAA South Regional. Of the four, only Morrow has experience at the regional level after running the same event in 25:26.94 last season.
The top two teams and first four individual finishers not on a qualifying team from each of the nine regionals automatically advance to the NCAA National Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Additionally, there are 13 at-large berths for teams and two for individuals. In 2000, Sonja Shedden became the first and only UCF athlete to qualify for the NCAA Cross Country Championships.