2009 Men's Cross Country - Year In Review
Bob Braman, Head Coach
Shawn Allen, Graduate Assistant
Kevin Cook, Graduate Assistant
Harry Norton, Graduate Assistant
Kevin Sullivan, Volunteer Assistant
Click here to see individual mug shots
2009 Men's Cross Country - Year In Review | |
| Coaching Staff Bob Braman, Head Coach Shawn Allen, Graduate Assistant Kevin Cook, Graduate Assistant Harry Norton, Graduate Assistant Kevin Sullivan, Volunteer Assistant Click here to see individual mug shots |
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Jared Bell, Inglewood, Calif.
Darrin Gibson, Tampa
John Grellner, Tampa
Ciaran O'Lionaird, Cork, Ireland
Christopher Rego, Melbourne
Wes Rickman, Peyton, Colo.
2009 Roster - By Name
L
T PY
R Name Hgt Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
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Austin Albury Fr Naples (Barron Collier)
* Jared Bell Sr-R Inglewood, Calif. (Harvard Westlake School/Yale)
Tyler Braman Fr-R Tallahassee (Chiles)
* Jacob Brooks So Fort Myers (Fort Myers)
Brian Chibudu Jr Harare, Zimbabwe (Saint John's)
Nathan Duby Fr-R Winter Springs (Winter Springs)
* Mike Fout So * LaPorte, Ind. (LaPorte)
Darrin Gibson Fr Tampa (Robinson)
John Grellner Fr Tampa (Wharton)
* Justin Harbor Jr-R ** Bunnell (Flager-Palm Coast/Oregon)
David Huckaby 5-9 So-R Fort Mill, S.C. (Fort Mill)
* Matt Leeder Jr ** Brockville, Ontario, Canada (Thousand Island Secondary)
* Nicholas Maedel Jr Orange Park (Ridgeview/West Florida)
Pablo Navarette So Santiago, Chile (SS. CC. Manquehue)
* Ciaran O'Lionaird Jr-R Cork, Ireland (De La Salle/Michigan)
* Tyler Price So-R * Tallahassee (Wakulla)
Christopher Rego Fr Melbourne (Satellite)
* Wes Rickman Fr Peyton, Colo. (Falcon)
* Daniel Roberts Sr ** Vicksburg, Mich. (Crested Butte Academy/Cedarville)
Daniel Silva So-R Miami (Belen Jesuit Prep)
2009 Conference Awards
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Matt Leeder Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
Ciaran O'Lionaird Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
Wes Rickman Atlantic Coast Conference - Freshman of the Year
Daniel Roberts Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
All-Conference - 4
2009 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covered Bridge Open Boone, N.C. |
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| VT Alumni Invitational Blacksburg, Va. |
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| Notre Dame Invitational South Bend, Ind. |
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| FSU Invitational | |||||
| Pre-National Meet Terre Haute, Ind. |
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| ACC Championship Raleigh, N.C. |
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| NCAA South Regional Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
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| NCAA Championship Terre Haute, Ind. |
EOY StatsRef Overall Home Away Neutral ------------------------------------------------ FSU record is 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0
2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Results 1 North Carolina State 56 2 Virginia 71 3 Florida State 72 4 Duke 74 5 Virginia Tech 122 6 North Carolina 138 7 Maryland 219 8 Georgia Tech 239 9 Wake Forest 281 10 Boston College 287 11 Clemson 293 12 Miami 395
2009 EOY Stats
Team Overall Name Races Top 7 Top 10 Wins =============================================== Daniel Roberts 7 7 4 0 Ciaran O'Lionaird 7 7 3 0 Matt Leeder 6 6 3 0 Wes Rickman 6 6 1 0 Jared Bell 5 5 1 0 Nicholas Maedel 5 5 0 0 Tyler Price 5 5 0 0 Jacob Brooks 4 4 1 0 Mike Fout 4 4 0 0 Justin Harbor 3 3 0 0 Nathan Duby 3 2 0 0 David Huckaby 2 1 0 0 Daniel Silva 2 1 0 0 Pablo Navarette 1 1 0 0
Florida State Cross Country Teams Take Covered Bridge By Storm.
The Seminoles start their season off by earning first place.
BOONE, NC - The Florida State cross country teams hit the ground running earlier today in its first meet of the season at the Covered Bridge Open where both the men and women dominated the meet with a first place trophy to prove it. The women posted 22 points while the men scored 32 points to capture the titles at the State Farm Fields.
Leading the women was senior Amanda Quick in her dominating first place run of 18:12.3 followed by Jennifer Dunn in second place with a time of 18:12.9. Junior Andrea Palen posted a time of 18:27.5 to take fifth place while senior Christina Woytalewicz and Kacey Gibson rounded off the top 10 in sixth (18:34.2) and eighth place (18:46.5), respectively.
"The girls ran really well," FSU women's head coach Karen Harvey said. "We got the individual win and also won the team race. Jennifer Dunn, Amanda Quick, Andrea Palin and Christina Woytalewicz really raced well. The girls held back in the first mile and then built to a fast last mile."
In his first meet wearing garnet and gold, Ciaran O'Lionaird stepped up to pace FSU as he was the first Seminole to finish in second place with a time of 19:45.1. Team captains Matt Leeder and Daniel Roberts quickly followed in fourth (19:56.4) and fifth place (19:56.7), respectively. Newcomer Jared Bell rounded off the top 10 with his eighth place finish in 20:03.
"We did really well overall," FSU men's head coach Bob Braman said. "I was pleased. We still had what we think will be our top three of our better men not run. We did a really good job of making up for them. Ciaran took second and Matt and Daniel took fourth and fifth. Jared Bell finished eighth overall and that is pretty good for a newcomer. He did a great job. We had a really good meet."
Both Florida State cross country teams will be back in action next Saturday, September 12, in their annual charity race, the Across the State Relay.
Team Scores ================================================ Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 ================================================ 1 Florida State 32 2 4 5 8 13 20 22 2 Queens 50 1 9 11 14 15 16 25 3 North Carolina 83 6 10 17 23 27 30 4 Appalachian 89 7 18 19 21 24 26 29 5 East Tennessee 109 3 12 28 32 34 39 6 Lenoir Rhyne 172 31 33 35 36 37 38 40
MEN 6.4K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 2 Ciaran O'Lionaird 2 19:45.1 4 Matt Leeder 4 19:56.4 5 Daniel Roberts 5 19:56.7 8 Jared Bell 8 20:03.0 13 Nicholas Maedel 13 20:29.0 20 Jacob Brooks 20 20:45.8 22 Tyler Price 22 20:53.8 35 Nathan Duby xxx 21:16.5 39 David Huckaby xxx 21:21.2 58 Daniel Silva xxx 23:03.4
FSU Women Take First Place At Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational.
The Seminole men earn second place.
BLASKBURG, VA - The Florida State cross country teams wrapped up another successful meet in the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational where the No. 3 nationally-ranked women dominated the 4.6K run by posting 26 points to take first place with the No. 23 men earning second place with a total of 50 points. Atlantic Coast Conference rival and host Virginia Tech nabbed the men's title while their women took third.
The women's squad crushed the opposition by placing seven Seminoles in the top 10. Leading FSU on the warpath was team co-captain Pilar McShine with her second place finish of 16:25.2 alongside newcomer Pasca Cheruiyot who quickly followed in third place with a time of 16:25.8. Freshman Jessica Parry showed her garnet and gold with an impressive sixth-place finish in 16:43.4, while Amanda Quick (16:44.2) and Jennifer Dunn (16:45.4) earned seventh and eighth place, respectively. Rounding off the top 10 would be freshman Andrea Palen in ninth place with a time of 16:48.7 and tenth place belonging to senior Christina Woytalewicz finishing in 17:00.9.
"Pilar and Pasca were just cruising," FSU women's head coach Karen Harvey said. "Pilar ran almost 30 seconds faster than she did the year before. She looked like she was in complete control. Pasca just ran with her, right on her shoulder. They really paced the team well.
"Then you have the next five runners who all ran well. Some of them improved by almost a minute. They really ran awesome. This was one of our hardest training weeks. We ran really hard going into this meet. There is a lot of depth on this team. This is the type of thing we need to see right now."
The Seminole men were able to improve their times from the 2008 meet while also continuing training with three top 10 finishes. Pacing the Seminoles was Daniel Roberts in fourth place with a time of 23:49.8 with freshmen Wes Rickman quickly following with a time of 24:04.3 to take sixth place. Rounding off the top 10 was newcomer Ciaran O'Lionard in eighth place with a time of 24:31.4.
"We did really well today," FSU men's head coach Bob Braman said. "Last year Luke Gunn won it in 24:09 and this year Daniel ran it under 24 minutes and Wes Rickman finished in 24:01 so we did well. We didn't run Jared Bell, Matt Leeder, Mike Fout or Justin Harbor. We are going to try to get these guys ready for Notre Dame. Our kids made good effort, but we are not quite ready to beat a team like Virginia Tech. Wes did a really nice job. He should be the top freshman in the ACC this year."
VIRGINIA TECH ALUMNI INVITATIONAL
September 18, 2009
MEN 7.6k RACE RESULTS
1 Virginia Tech 29 - 2 4 6 8 9 10 12
2 Florida State 50 - 3 5 7 14 21 25 29
3 UNCC 92 - 13 15 18 22 24 32 33
4 Ohio Univ 117 - 17 19 26 27 28 30 31
5 Wake Forest 121 - 11 16 23 34 37 38 41
6 USC Upstate 131 - 1 20 35 36 39 44
7 Concord 221 - 40 42 45 46 48 50 51
8 Roanoke 244 - 43 47 49 52 53 54 55
MEN 7.6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 4 Daniel Roberts 3 23:49.8 6 Wes Rickman 5 24:04.3 8 Ciaran O'Lionaird 7 24:31.4 15 Nicholas Maedel 14 24:58.3 24 Tyler Price 23 25:17.8 28 Jacob Brooks 27 25:23.9 32 Nathan Duby 31 25:26.9
'Noles Grab Top 10 Finishes.
Rickman shines for the men.
SOUTH BEND, IN - The Florida State men's and women's cross country teams were in action at the Notre Dame Invitational Friday afternoon and both turned in top 10 finishes. The men finished as the top team in the southeast region with a sixth place finish, while the women finished in seventh place.
"We competed really well, especially for not being full strength yet," head coach Bob Braman said. "We picked up some wins against some good teams today."
Ciaran O'Lionard led the Seminole men with a 12th place finish in a time of 24:08, while teammate Daniel Roberts trailed the junior transfer by just five seconds as he claimed 16th overall with a mark of 24:13 in the 8K race.
The duo of Wes Rickman and Matt Leeder finished 33rd and 35th respectively with times of 24:24 and 24:28 to put four runners in the top 35 for the Seminoles. Closing out the scoring for the men was sophomore Nick Maedel who finished 91st overall in 25:13.
"Wes Rickman ran a great race for us and filled in nicely for our third spot," Braman added.
Also running for the FSU men were Jared Bell (146th/26:22) and Tyler Price (148th/26:23).
The women were led by Pilar McShine who clocked a 17:10 in the 5K race finished 19th overall. Freshman Jessica Parry finished second for the Seminoles with a time of 17:17 good for 25th overall in the first regional-scoring meet of her career.
Transfer Pasca Cheruiyot finished in 32nd place as she tackled the course in 17:22, finishing 12 seconds ahead of junior Amanda Quick who claimed 49th place.
Another Seminole freshman closed out the team scoring on Friday as Amanda Winslow finished in 54th place with a time of 17:37. Andi Palen and Jennifer Dunn finished back-to-back with identical times of 17:38 to put seven runners under 17:40.
The Seminoles will be back in action next weekend when they host their only home meet of the season on October 10 at the Apalachee Regional Park with events getting under way at 7:15 a.m.
2009 NOTRE DAME CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL ------------------------------------------------------------------ 8K ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. WASHINGTON 9 13 28 29 34 (69) (79) = 113 2. PROVIDENCE COLLEGE 4 7 22 37 49 (61)(153) = 119 3. NEW MEXICO 1 27 32 41 50 (102)(118) = 151 3. BUTLER 3 23 36 43 46 (107) = 151 5. ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY 2 15 40 44 57 (75)(143) = 158 6. FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY 12 16 33 35 91 (146)(148) = 187 7. TULSA 5 19 42 47 119 (129) = 232 8. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY 8 11 55 76 86 (103)(120) = 236 9. UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY 24 51 53 60 68 (96)(136) = 256 10. PRINCETON UNIVERSITY 6 39 63 73 81 (99)(108) = 262 11. UCLA 17 20 64 80 88 (121)(150) = 269 12. DAYTON 10 25 62 105 124 (138)(151) = 326 12. INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY 48 52 65 71 90 (114)(116) = 326 14. GEORGIA 56 58 83 84 92 (115)(130) = 373 15. NORTH CAROLINA 18 26 59 133 142 (152)(154) = 378 16. NOTRE DAME 45 67 78 94 100 (110)(128) = 384 17. FLORIDA 38 77 87 89 95 (113)(122) = 386 18. ILLINOIS STATE 30 31 82 137 141 (155)(156) = 421 19. SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY 14 54 101 112 144 (145)(157) = 425 20. CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE 21 74 106 117 125 (127)(135) = 443 21. PENN STATE UNIVERSITY 66 72 104 123 126 (131)(134) = 491 22. FRESNO STATE 70 85 97 109 139 (149)(158) = 500 23. ARIZONA 93 98 111 132 140 (147) = 574
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 12 Ciaran O'Lionaird 12 24:08 16 Daniel Roberts 16 24:13 33 Wes Rickman 33 24:24 35 Matt Leeder 35 24:28 91 Nicholas Maedel 91 25:13 157 Jared Bell 146 26:22 159 Tyler Price 148 26:23
FSU Shines On New Home Course At FSU Invitational.
The women posted a second place finish while the men placed fourth.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida State cross country teams (Women-No. 11/ Men-No. 28) unveiled its new home course at the Apalachee Regional Park Saturday morning with the Seminoles lone home meet of the season, the FSU Invitational. FSU's women posted 50 points in the 5K to earn second place while the men placed fourth in the 8K with 84 points.
"Apart from the hot weather it has been absolutely perfect," FSU Men's Head Coach Bob Braman said. "I am very proud of the hard work the team has put in to making this course. With the county's help this is probably as good of a cross country course you can find in Florida. The course looks great and the crowd is good."
Stephen F. Austin swept the meet with the men and women taking home both trophies while in-state rival Florida finished in fourth place on the women's front and second in the men's race.
The women's 5K run was dominated by FSU's Jennifer Dunn who took home the title with an impressive run of 17:41.43 that beat out 68 other participants. Quickly following was senior Christina Woytalewicz in fifth place with a solid performance of 18:11.71 and Kacey Gibson rounding off the top 10 in seventh place with a time of 18:20.97. Christal Washington placed 13th with her finish time of 18:38.34 while Bree McArdle took 24th with a time of 19:08.39.
"Our first four runners did really well," Women's Head Coach Karen Harvey said. "I asked Jennifer to win the race and she did it. She timed her strong finish perfectly. Christal ran really smart today. Christina and Kacey ran solid. We put our b-team out there. This is a big year for Jennifer and I would have to say she is the most improved runner on the team. I am happy for her. We learned a lot today."
The men's collegiate race opened the early morning with over 40 participants from five other universities. Jacob Brooks paced the Seminoles and finished eighth with a time of 25:52.03 while Tyler Price finished in twelfth place with a time of 26:06.82. Other `Noles finishing in the top 30 was Nathan Duby in 25th with a time of 27:33.78 and David Huckaby finishing in 27th place as he crossed the finish line in 27:37.08. Closing out the race for the Garnet and Gold was Pablo Navarette in 38th place with a time of 28:13.42 and Daniel Silva finishing in 42nd place with a time of 28:52.43.
"The guys did ok," Coach Braman said. "Jacob Brooks ran really well because he is trying to get a spot for conference. Tyler Price did a good job. All the guys ran better than what they did at Notre Dame which is what I was looking for. Our first eight runners didn't compete because pre-national's is next week. This was a long run for Nathan, Pablo and Daniel, but they did a good job."
FSU will now focus on the pre-national meet next weekend in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, October 17.
FSU Cross Country Invitational 2009 - 10/10/2009 Apalachee Regional Park Event 1 Men 8k Run CC College Mens Varsity ======================================================================= Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 ======================================================================= 1 Stephen F. Austin 24 1 2 3 8 10 12 16 2 Florida "b" 69 4 5 11 23 26 3 North Florida 72 7 14 15 17 19 28 31 4 Florida State "b" 84 6 9 20 22 27 29 5 Tampa 112 13 18 24 25 32 33 34 6 Florida A&M 159 21 30 35 36 37 38
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 8 Jacob Brooks 6 25:52.03 12 Tyler Price 9 26:06.82 25 Nathan Duby 20 27:33.78 27 David Huckaby 22 27:37.08 38 Pablo Navarette 27 28:13.42 42 Daniel Silva 29 28:52.43
Seminoles Take Second.
Men finish eighth in white race.
TERRE HAUTE, IN - The Florida State cross country teams made the trip to Terre Haute, Ind. Saturday and turned in solid performances at the NCAA Pre-National meet. The Seminole women placed second overall with 135 team points thanks to a pair of top 10 finishes by Susan Kuijken (2nd, 20:20.8) and Pasca Cheruiyot (7th, 20:36.6). The men were led by Matt Leeder who finished 18th overall as the Seminoles finished in 8th place.
Senior Susan Kuijken in her first action of the 2009 season ran a 20:20.8 to finish in second place overall behind Blue race winner Jenny Barringer of Colorado who ran a 19:50.9.
"Susan really helped her teammates today," head coach Karen Harvey said. "I'm really pleased with how the team came together today, I can't wait to see when we are firing on all cylinders."
Transfer Pasca Cheruiyot stepped up for Seminoles in the two-spot as she ran a 20:36.6 to place seventh overall and give FSU a good start at the top. Pilar McShine was the third Seminole to cross the line Saturday as she clocked a 21:10.3 for 20th overall.
The big surprise for coach Karen Harvey was Jennifer Dunn who was fresh off a win at the Seminole Invitational just a week ago. Dunn finished 40th overall with a time of 21:30.1.
"Pasca and Jennifer were absolutely amazing, they ran the best races of their career today," Harvey added.
Closing out the scoring for Florida State was freshman Amanda Winslow who placed 66th as she ran a 21:49.4. Narrowly behind Winslow was transfer Andrea Palen (71st, 21:52.4) and freshman Jessica Parry (88th, 21:58.9).
"At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves what could have been," Harvey asked. "Pilar and Jessica have been battling illness for quite awhile but Jennifer, Amanda and Andrea all ran really hard today."
The Seminole men finished eighth overall with a strong team showing. Matt Leeder was the top finisher among the men as the junior placed 18th overall in the 8K race. Leeder ran the men's white race in 24:07.7.
"We ran a solid race, we came out with the top performance in the ACC," head coach Bob Braman said. "We beat our rivals and picked up some wins. Leeder ran a really good race and we are starting to put the pieces together."
Three other Seminoles finished with a sub-25 minute times with senior Daniel Roberts placing second on the team with a time of 24:19.1, which was good for 34th place.
Finishing third for the 'Noles was Ciaran O'Lionard who placed 56th with a time of 24:37.9. Freshman Wes Rickman continued his impressive initial campaign as he claimed 70th place in 24:47.0.
Closing out the scoring for FSU was Mike Fout with a time of 25:13.3 for 110th overall, while Nick Maedel claimed 143rd place in 25:36.0.
"Fout had a solid first race back coming off injury for us today," Braman added.
The races were split evenly on both the men's and women's side as each race had some of the top teams in the country.
The Seminoles will have a week off before making the trek to Cary, N.C. for the ACC Championships set for Halloween morning.
2009 PRE-NATIONALS HOSTED BY INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2009 -------------------------------------------------------- MEN'S 8OOO METER WHITE TEAM RESULTS -------------------------------------------------------- 1. 47 Stanford 1 3 10 11 22 ( 48) ( 72) 2. 130 Colorado 14 17 28 32 39 (160) 3. 163 Brigham Young 12 19 29 44 59 ( 61) ( 76) 4. 211 Portland 8 15 25 31 132 (158) 5. 218 Iona 4 23 35 75 81 ( 87) ( 99) 6. 232 Arizona State 6 26 45 62 93 (127) (171) 7. 278 New Mexico 7 52 67 73 79 ( 95) (153) 8. 288 Florida State 18 34 56 70 110 (143) 9. 289 Louisville 30 33 36 92 98 (109) (197) 10. 301 Iowa State 16 40 63 88 94 (117) (125) 11. 341 Minnesota 5 24 60 90 162 (173) (200) 12. 382 Columbia 46 54 58 91 133 (134) (154) 13. 408 UC Santa Barbara 49 50 84 103 122 (201) (208) 14. 416 Southern Illinois 37 47 89 102 141 (172) (176) 15. 442 Notre Dame 51 66 100 112 113 (182) (187) 16. 506 Dartmouth 43 69 120 129 145 (164) (167) 17. 507 Illinois 71 78 108 111 139 (150) (184) 18. 508 Lamar 27 86 101 124 170 (230) 19. 510 Dayton 38 80 116 128 148 (210) (219) 20. 514 South Alabama 13 20 151 161 169 (181) (205) 21. 546 North Carolina 41 65 119 146 175 (191) (199) 22. 548 Ohio State 53 85 115 140 155 (165) (196) 23. 553 UCLA 55 104 107 138 149 (193) (195) 24. 570 Nebraska 21 96 131 159 163 (222) (232) 25. 587 Massachusetts 74 97 118 121 177 (204) 26. 609 Eastern Kentucky 64 105 114 147 179 (185) (209) 27. 691 Central Michigan 77 136 142 156 180 (186) (198) 28. 694 Southern Utah 42 106 166 188 192 (207) (231) 29. 718 Liberty 2 57 215 221 223 (225) (226) 30. 721 UC Davis 68 135 157 178 183 (218) 31. 753 Colorado St. 82 83 174 203 211 32. 827 Cincinnati 123 144 168 190 202 (220) (228) 33. 848 Mississippi 9 137 233 234 235 (236) (237) 34. 851 Loyola (Ill.) 126 130 189 194 212 (224) (227) 35. 1001 Ohio U. 152 206 213 214 216 (217) (229)
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 18 Matt Leeder 18 24:07.7 34 Daniel Roberts 34 24:19.1 56 Ciaran O'Lionaird 56 24:37.9 70 Wes Rickman 70 24:47.0 110 Mike Fout 110 25:13.3 143 Nicholas Maedel 143 25:36.0
FSU Women Earn Third Consecutive ACC Title While Men Take Third At ACC Championships.
Freshmen Wes Rickman named the ACC Freshman of the Year.
CARY, NC - The No. 6 ranked Florida State women dominated the 6k run at the WakeMed Soccer Park cross country field Saturday morning with its third-consecutive first place finish at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship. Securing three top 10 finishes, including Susan Kuijken's third consecutive ACC title, and two more 'Noles in the top 15, FSU scored 37 points to win the crown. Florida State's men also ran an impressive 8k run, taking third place with a score of 72 points while freshmen Wes Rickman highlighted the day for the 'Noles as he was named 2009's ACC Male Freshman of the Year.
Although the FSU women had numerous athletes running in their first ACC Championship race, that didn't stop them from crushing the competition and earning the most All-ACC honors with five.
"I am really happy for Susan," FSU women's head coach Karen Harvey said. "I told her to enjoy this day and don't think about tomorrow or nationals. It is so special for her to come out and win. She was a true captain. She led the team physically and mentally."
For the third year in a row Kuijken controlled the course by staying in first place throughout the 6k and finished with a blistering time of 19:39.3. Co-captain Pilar McShine quickly followed in third place setting a new personal record with a time of 20:06.4 while newcomer Pasca Cheruiyot finished in sixth place with a time of 20:18.6 that also notes a personal record. Sophomore Jennifer Dunn guided the next group of 'Noles in thirteenth place with a personal record time of 20:37.8 with freshmen Jessica Parry and Amanda Winslow following in 14th (20:40.7) and 16th (20:46.7) place, respectively. Kuijken, McShine, Cheruiyot, Dunn and Parry all earned All-ACC honors for their top 14 finishes.
"This was amazing," Coach Harvey said. "I won't deny that I was very nervous. We could have lost it in the last 600 meters with the hill, but they rallied. We don't really quite train for something like this so I think that is what kept me up last night and so worried. The bottom line is that they are so talented and they really wanted this today. Even though they really weren't quite prepared, they pulled it out and got it done."
On the men's front, No. 21 FSU not only improved its team finish from 2008, but also placed more athletes in the top 14 and earned three All-ACC honors. Team co-captain Matt Leeder paced the squad with a fifth place finish in 23:33.66 while other co-captain Daniel Roberts and newcomer Ciaran O'Lionard battled to the finish line and came in ninth (23:36.37) and tenth (23:38.80) place, respectively. ACC Male Freshman of the Year Rickman finished in 20th place with a time of 24:16.16.
"We just came out one point short of second from Virginia," FSU men's head coach Bob Braman said. "NC State ran unbelievably well and took first place. Although we were better than them two weeks ago, they stepped up really well. I am real pleased with the effort from the guys. We just need to get a little bit better on four and five. We are getting there, but we just aren't there yet. I feel really good about the future as far as regionals and nationals. I think we are probably a top 20 team as we always are. We have a little but more work to do."
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 5 Matt Leeder 5 23:33.7 9 Daniel Roberts 9 23:36.4 10 Ciaran O'Lionaird 10 23:38.8 21 Wes Rickman 21 24:16.2 27 Mike Fout 27 24:27.9 39 Justin Harbor 35 24:52.9 51 Jared Bell 45 25:11.1 65 Jacob Brooks --- 25:29.6 70 Nicholas Maedel --- 25:37.9 75 Tyler Price --- 25:45.1
'Noles Punch Ticket To Nationals.
Both the men and women earned second place at regionals.
TUSCALOOSA, AL - The Florida State cross country teams (Men-No. 21/ Women- No. 9) punched their tickets to the NCAA Cross Country Championships this morning with both squads earning second place at the NCAA South Regional Championships with the women scoring 54 points and the men posting 80 points. A total of nine Seminoles were named All-South Region for their top 25 finish in the race. With the automatic bid, FSU now looks to battle at nationals November 23 in Terre Haute, Ind.
"That is the way to do it," FSU Men's Head Coach Bob Braman said. "This year's region meet was much better than last year. The quality was higher. Running hard and getting after it really set the tone for next week. This is seven years in a row we are going to the big show. Even if you traded our seventh guy out we would have still made it because we were still 30 points better than Auburn. Our seven guys really committed to getting it done. It is about peaking at the right time.
"I am really happy for Justin Harbor today because it is his first time scoring for us. We are going the right way. All of our support guys are getting better. It was a great race for Wes Rickman. He was the first freshman to finish again. What a great race for Matt Leeder. It was a little bit of redemption from last week's race. Another great 10K race for Daniel which he loves. He has been waiting all year for this."
The Seminole men opened up the championships with an impressive 10K run that saw three 'Noles post personal record times. Junior and team captain Matt Leeder led the team with a fourth place finish in 30:08.41 while co-captain and senior Daniel Roberts followed in eighth place in 30:17.32. Rounding off the top 25 was newcomer Ciaran O'Lionard taking 20th in 31:07.88 and Wes Rickman quickly following as the first freshman to finish in 23rd with a time of 31:10.50. All four men earned All-South Region honors.
"Pilar and Pasca were jogging," FSU Women's Head Coach Karen Harvey said. "They were smiling and laughing. They ran really easy and were in control. Our next three kind of phased out a little bit. They have never run a go-easy kind of race so it threw them off. We wanted to get to nationals more than anything. We have a few more things to tweak. I feel like we are getting to the pinnacle. We are at the point we need to be at to get to the podium at nationals."
As for the women, Coach Harvey looked to Pilar McShine and Pasca Cheruiyot to pace FSU in the 6k as senior and captain Susan Kuijken did not compete. McShine was the first 'Nole to finish with a personal-record time of 20:31.15 to earn sixth place, while Cheruiyot took seventh place in 20:31.28. Sophomore Jennifer Dunn posted a time of 20:46.29 to finish in 13th with freshmen Jessica Parry and Amanda Winslow following in 15th (20:51.62) and 19th (20:59.03) to round off the top 25 and earn All-South Region.
Florida State will continue to train for the next week before leaving to Indiana for nationals on Saturday.
Team Scores ===================================================== Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 ===================================================== 1 Alabama 45 6 7 9 11 12 77 100 2 Florida State 80 4 8 19 22 27 39 45 3 Auburn 110 1 3 15 26 65 151 4 Georgia 125 14 21 28 29 33 42 59 5 Florida 143 13 23 32 34 41 49 51 6 Tennessee 178 16 35 36 38 53 58 83 7 South Alabama 180 5 10 31 64 70 86 110 8 Kennesaw State 283 25 44 54 79 81 88 91 9 Mississippi St. 298 43 46 62 67 80 123 10 Belmont 303 40 57 66 69 71 99 102 11 Georgia Tech 338 47 55 74 78 84 93 105 12 Chattanooga 346 17 52 75 90 112 13 East Tenn. St. 399 18 20 73 142 146 162 14 Georgia State 418 24 68 96 104 126 131 15 Troy 423 56 61 76 95 135 158 16 Lipscomb 433 37 82 87 98 129 140 149 17 Ms Valley State 500 85 92 94 108 121 143 18 Ole Miss. 504 2 50 147 152 153 164 166 19 South Florida 509 60 89 109 114 137 138 141 19 Jacksonville St. 509 30 48 103 161 167 21 North Florida 517 63 101 111 120 122 150 165 22 Vanderbilt 529 72 107 113 118 119 127 132 23 Tennessee Tech 591 106 116 117 124 128 139 148 24 Austin Peay 690 97 133 144 156 160 163 25 Samford 694 115 134 136 154 155 26 Miami 716 125 130 145 157 159
MEN 10K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 4 Matt Leeder 4 30:08.41 8 Daniel Roberts 8 30:17.32 20 Ciaran O'Lionaird 19 31:07.88 23 Wes Rickman 22 31:10.50 28 Justin Harbor 27 31:18.16 40 Mike Fout 39 31:50.00 47 Jared Bell 45 32:10.07
Women Make History And Capture Second Place At NCAA Cross Country Championship.
Kuijken and Roberts close out their final cross country season with the 'Noles.
TERRE HAUTE, IN - The Florida State women's cross country team continued to make school history as head coach Karen Harvey led the Seminoles to capture second place at the NCAA Cross Country Championships Monday, November 23, by posting five 'Noles in the top 46 to score 133 points. The men's ensemble finished in 30th with 612 points. The Lavern Gibson Championship Course welcomed the nation's most elite athletes as it saw Villanova dominating the women's race with 86 points and Oklahoma State crushing the opposition to earn first place on the men's front with 127 points.
"I felt this coming for the past two weeks," Coach Harvey said. "I am just so happy for them because between all the swine flu, all the infections and all the injuries it didn't seem like there was going to be an end. They wrote the end of their story."
With Coach Harvey's guidance, the Seminoles ran the 6k with several impressive times that included three Seminoles earning NCAA All-American status for their top 40 finish. In one of her toughest races of her collegiate career, senior and captain Susan Kuijken battled all the way to the finish line for a third place spot with a time of 19:58. Newcomer Pasca Cheruiyot was the second 'Nole to finish in 15th with a time of 20:23, while freshman Amanda Winslow crushed her previous personal record with a new time of 20:44 to finish in 33rd place. Sophomore Jennifer Dunn recorded a 36th place finish with 20:47, while junior Pilar McShine came in 46th with a time of 21:00.
As one of Florida State's most decorative athletes, Kuijken leaves FSU as a four-time cross country NCAA All-American, two-time cross country South Region Athlete of the Year honoree, three time cross country NCAA All-South Region, two-time cross country ACC Athlete of the Year recipient, four-time cross country All-ACC and three-time cross country ACC Champion.
"Susan ran with complete heart," Coach Harvey said. "She ran out of oxygen. We have been dealing with an issue all year long with her rib and the doctors and trainers did everything they could to help her. She followed her race plan, but she was just in too much pain. That is a lot of heart to go out there and just know you have this kink in your armor, but she didn't care. That's the type of leader that helped this team get second."
As for the Seminole men, junior and co-captain Matt Leeder was the first 'Nole to finish in 43rd with a time of 30:30, while senior and fellow co-captain Daniel Roberts came in 89th with a finish time of 31:04. Newcomer Ciaran O'Lionard was the next Seminole in at 147th in 31:42 with sophomore Mike Fout coming in at 151st place with 31:47 and ACC Freshman of the Year Wes Rickman taking 182nd with a time of 32:26.
Over his three years on Florida State's cross country team, Robert's found great success by earning three All-South region honors and being named to the All-ACC list in 2009.
"It was a great race for Matt Leeder," FSU men's head coach Bob Braman said. "He was eight seconds away from making All-American. I am really proud of Matt because he was trying to overcome being sick. I also think Daniel should be proud of his effort. It was just a tough day for us. We just looked really tired and we felt it all week. I have to get them better than that. Matt and Daniel are trying to get over a head cold. I felt sorry for Wes Rickman, but I think he was hurt after regions and he couldn't do anything after that. We just looked like a tired team. I think it was fair to say we were a top 20 team. We are not a top 10 team yet."
MEN 10K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 51 Matt Leeder 43 30:29.5 113 Daniel Roberts 89 31:04.0 181 Ciaran O'Lionaird 147 31:41.2 186 Mike Fout 151 31:46.3 218 Wes Rickman 182 32:25.9 223 Jared Bell 187 32:35.2 238 Justin Harbor 201 33:18.2