Oct. 7, 2005
ORLANDO - The UCF cross country teams make their annual trip to Disney's Wide World of Sports on Saturday for the 10th Annual Disney Classic. The men's race is scheduled to begin at 7:45 a.m. with the women's event to follow at 8:55 a.m.
Among the Division I schools the Golden Knights will be competing against are Miami, South Florida, Bethune-Cookman and Florida Atlantic, while Florida and Florida State are scheduled to bring their "B" squads to the event. Also running at the classic is Florida Southern, which beat UCF at the FSU Invitational in September.
In all, 28 teams are expected to participate and the Golden Knights are hoping for a top three finish on both the men's and women's sides.
Freshman and reigning Conference USA Athlete of the Week Chris Mullaney continues to be impressive after claiming the spot as UCF's No. 1 runner in the first three outings of the season. At the Loyola Lakefront Invitational a week ago, he set a new school record in the 8K with a time of 25:15.
Juniors Brent and Ryan White have consistently run in the team's top three, while the fourth and fifth spots have been up for grabs.
After leading the UCF women in the first two meets of the fall, senior Andrea Morrow fell to fourth at the Lakefront Invitational. Taking her place at the front of the pack was rookie Jamie Rzepecki. Also finishing among the Golden Knights' top three this fall is sophomore Allison Palmer.
Both the men's and women's squads are hoping to close the gaps in the lineup and become more consistent as they continue toward the postseason. UCF is set to compete in only one other meet - the Stetson Invitational on Oct. 14 - before closing out the month at the C-USA Championship on Oct. 29 back at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex.