Oct. 17, 2009
DELAND, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Despite running without senior Jamie Rzepecki (East Aurora, N.Y.), the UCF cross country team had a strong showing in its final regular season meet of the season Friday, finishing fourth at the Hatter Invitational hosted by Stetson at the Sperling Sports Complex.
The Knights finished the 20-team event in fourth place with 83 points, behind only North Florida (57), USF (67) and Florida Atlantic (77). UCF has finished in the top-five in each of its six meets this season.
"The team performed very well today," said cross country coach Tyangela Sanders. "We did not have Jamie, but I felt the team held it together very well. I'm proud of the team, but we need to go back to the drawing board and get ready for conference both mentally and physically."
Ocean Cohen (Sarasota, Fla.) paced the Knights in seventh-place overall. The junior crossed the finish line in 18:40, eight seconds ahead of senior Erica Weitz, who crossed the line in 11th place.
Freshman Alyssa Franks (Tampa, Fla.) had another strong meet and had a top-20 finish with a time of 19:31. Senior Carley Dart (Whitby, Ontario) was just one second behind Franks in 21st place while freshman Amethyst Strickland just missed breaking the 20-minute mark (20:03), rounding out the UCF scorers in 35th position.
With the final regular season meet in the books, the Knights will now set its sights on the Conference USA Championships in Houston on Oct. 31. In 2008, UCF finished in eighth place in the C-USA meet.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Stetston Hatter Invitational
Sperling Sports Complex - DeLand, Fla.
Oct. 16, 2009
7. Ocean Cohen, 18:40
11. Erica Weitz, 18:48
19. Alyssa Franks, 19:31
21. Carley Dart, 19:32
35. Amethyst Strickland, 20:03
37. Shannon Kelly, 20:08
44. Katrina Skinner, 20:19
60. Kathia Skinner, 20:50
77. Jaclyn Johnson, 21:49
86. Mason Gardberg, 22:10