Sept. 9, 2005
Men's Results | Women's Results
ORLANDO - The UCF men's cross country team earned an impressive third place showing, while the women finished in the middle of the pack at the Gator Invitational on Friday morning.
Led by freshman Chris Mullaney, the Golden Knight men finished third in the 12-team field. Host Florida earned a perfect score, taking the top seven places, while Miami was second with 70 points. UCF recorded 90 points.
Mullaney crossed the finish line at 25:36.05, placing him 16th overall. His time also ranks fifth all-time at UCF in the 8K.
All of the Knights started the season with strong efforts, posting personal bests. Junior Brent White ran the course in 25:43.68 for 19th place, while twin brother Ryan also recorded a time of 25:57.52 to finish 23rd.
Sophomore Paul Fitzpatrick took 33rd place at 26:24.53 followed by senior captain Ray Gossage in 34th narrowly beating his pervious personal record at 26:24.87 and senior Chucky Jones in 35th at 26:25.26.
Rounding out UCF's scoring lineup was sophomore Paul Nielsen, who finished 37th with a time of 26:31.58. Freshman Daniel Conn was 44th at 26:48.46.
"I was very proud of the way the men ran today. To have all eight come in under the 27-minute mark surpassed any expectations. It was the best team race that our program has run to date," said head coach Marcia Mansur-Wentworth.
A solid effort by senior Andrea Morrow paced the UCF women, who finished seventh in a field of 15. The Gators won the title with 44 points ahead of Florida Southern (105 points), Florida Atlantic (106) and Tampa (107). The Golden Knights combined for 145 points.
Morrow ran the 5K in a personal best time of 18:43.38 for 20th place. Freshman Jamie Rzepecki debuted as the Knights' No. 2 runner as she earned 32nd place at 19:12.63. Finishing 38th, sophomore Allison Palmer also recorded a personal best of 19:18.14.
Sophomore captain Karen Kozub was 41st at 19:23.01, while senior Michelle Brouillet took 45th at personal best 19:33.86. In her first career cross country event, freshman Shantile Blackburn posted an impressive time of 19:55.92 to place 57th. Following shortly behind in 59th place with a personal record of19:59.26, sophomore Elizabeth Miller capped off the scoring for UCF.
Sophomore Kristen Zieminski finished 63rd at 20:06.05, while freshman Kelly McNeill was 76th at 20:27.05. Junior Christina Jones was 88th at 20:53.58.
"I was pleased with some of the individual performances on the women's side, but I was disappointed in our overall team effort. We had a few people out of position, which we will need to rectify before the next race," said Mansur-Wentworth.