Sept. 28, 2007
BETHLEHEM, Pa. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Three men and five women recorded personal-best times as the UCF cross country teams raced against top national competition at the Paul Short Invitational on Friday afternoon.
"As coaches we are always excited to see athletes improve upon past performances," said head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, who is in her first year with the Knights. "Today, we had some good individual performances from upperclassmen. We want to continue to add competitive meets like the Paul Short Invitational to our schedule so that our athletes will be able to continue to reach - and even surpass - their goals."
For the second consecutive meet, senior co-captain Karen Kozub (Alden, N.Y./Alden HS) ran in the No.1 position for UCF, knocking almost two minutes off her previous 6K mark with a time of 22:29. The effort also ranks third all-time in the school record books.
Kozub's classmate Elizabeth Miller (Orlando, Fla./Timber Creek HS) went 22:52 to finish in the No. 2 spot followed by junior Jamie Rzepecki (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora HS) at 22:56 and sophomore Erica Weitz (Morganville, N.J./Marlboro HS) at 23:58. All were personal records.
Also scoring for the Knights was sophomore Jenny Clausen (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial HS). UCF collected 805 points to finish 31st in the field of 47 teams. Princeton claimed the women's overall trophy with 45 points.
On the men's side, the Knights finished with 670 points, earning 25th place in the 41-team field. Senior Paul Nielsen (Oviedo HS), junior Daniel Conn (Ocala, Fla./Trinity Catholic HS) and sophomore transfer Richie Bonilla (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay HS) each recorded personal bests in the 8K.
Nielsen continued to run at the top of UCF's line-up and clocked a 25:39 to beat his previous career time of 26:16.55. Conn went 25:57 to place No.2 for the Knights. Senior Paul Fitzpatrick (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard HS) was in the No.3 position at 26:10, three seconds ahead of Bonilla. Rounding out the scoring five was senior Matt Clements (Oviedo HS) with a time of 26:50.
Villanova took the men's overall title with 50 points.
The Knights' "B" team will competed in the FLRunners.com Invitational on Friday, Oct. 5. The full squad races in the Stetson Invitational on Friday, Oct. 12.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pics.