Sept. 7, 2007
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF men's cross country team took second and the women were third as the Knights opened the 2007 season at the Mountain Dew Invitational on Friday evening.
Junior Jamie Rzepecki (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora HS) placed at the top of the Knights' line-up and 11th overall as she recorded a personal-best time of 18:34.37 in the 5K. Meanwhile, senior co-captain Karen Kozub (Alden, N.Y./Alden HS) was 21st with a time of 19:05.85 - five seconds short of matching her own personal record.
Also scoring for UCF was senior Elizabeth Miller (Orlando, Fla./Timber Creek HS), who took 21st at 19:26.96 followed by sophomore Jenny Clausen (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial HS) in 27th at 19:38.57. Rounding out UCF's top five was her classmate Erica Weitz (Morganville, N.J./Marlboro HS) in 39th.
The Knights collected 99 points for third place. Host Florida grabbed the top spot with 19 points, while Tampa was second with 67.
Led by senior Paul Nielsen (Oviedo HS), the UCF men earned 82 points for second place. Neilsen finished in 16th with a time of 26:18.70, just two seconds off his own personal record time in the 8K. Junior Daniel Conn (Ocala, Fla./Trinity Catholic HS) went 26:25.67 for 22nd. Just behind Conn in 24th was senior Paul Fitzpatrick (Ocala, Fla./Vanguard HS) as he ran 26:32.95.
Sophomore transfer Richie Bonilla (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay HS) performed well in his first race as a Knight, going 26:54.76 for 33rd place. Senior Matt Clements (Oviedo HS) ran at 27:29.32 to close out the scoring in 50th.
The Gators also won the team title on the men's side with 15 points, while Embry-Riddle was behind UCF in third with 89 points.
"Both the men's and women's teams had strong showings, which lends a hand to our goal of being our best at the Conference USA Championships," said first-year head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert. "I was pleased with the efforts that all the athletes gave and thrilled with the number of runners that ran at or near their personal bests this early in the season. We look forward to moving on to next week's races at Vanderbilt."
The Knights return to action on Sept. 15 at the Vanderbilt Commodore Classic in Nashville, Tenn.
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