2006 Women's Cross Country - Year In Review
Bob Braman, Head Coach
Althea Belgrave, Graduate Assistant
Sean McManus, Assistant Coach
Joey Zins, Graduate Assistant
Click here to see individual mug shots
2006 Women's Cross Country - Year In Review | |
| Coaching Staff Bob Braman, Head Coach Althea Belgrave, Graduate Assistant Sean McManus, Assistant Coach Joey Zins, Graduate Assistant Click here to see individual mug shots |
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Amy Huss, Wyomissing, Pa.
Debbie Huss, Wyomissing, Pa.
Susan Kuijken, Nijmegen, Netherlands
Pilar McShine, Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago
Amanda Quick, 5-7, Tampa
Alysha Salapack, Seminole
Whitney Schnarr, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Samantha Weeks, Seminole
2006 Roster - By Name
L
T PY
R Name Hgt Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
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Ashley Andress Jr Davie (Archbishop McCarthy)
Pamela Arnedos Jr West Palm Beach (Cardinal Newman)
Stefanie Bechler 5-8 Jr-R Libertyville, Ill. (Libertyville)
Rosanna Bell Fr Gainesville (Gainesville)
Tina Biedenharn 5-4 Jr-R Orange Park (Ridgeview)
* Laura Bowerman Jr ** Temple Terrace (King)
Shannon Coates 5-7 Jr Delray Beach (Spanish River)
* Jessica Crate Jr-R * Brights Grove, Ontario, Canada (Northern College/Arizona State)
Laura Cullen So Temple Terrace (King)
Christine Dion So Cape Coral (Fort Myers)
* Kirsten Hagen Jr ** Blacksburg, Va. (Christiansburg)
Amanda Hahn So-R * Gainesville (Gainesville)
Audrey Hand Jr * Virginia Beach, Va. (Kellam)
Quiana Holsey Jr Gainesville (Gainesville)
Sarah Hughes So Maitland (Winter Park)
* Amy Huss Jr Wyomissing, Pa. (Wyomissing/Vanderbilt)
* Debbie Huss Jr Wyomissing, Pa. (Wyomissing/Vanderbilt)
Meredith Kelly So Clermont (East Ridge)
* Susan Kuijken Fr Nijmegen, Netherlands (Stedelijk Gymnasium)
Danielle Laramee So Margate (Coral Springs)
Courtney Laster So Woodbridge, Va. (Hayfield/Hayfield)
Adrienne Lufkin 5-4 Sr Saint Petersburg (Lakewood)
Mary Magee So Seminole (Seminole)
Kaley Matthews So Saint Petersburg (Largo)
Ryann Matthews Sr Saint Petersburg (Largo)
Pilar McShine Fr Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago (Success Laventille Composite)
Ashley Montagnese So Tallmadge, Ohio (Tallmadge)
Hillary Palumbo Sr Bensenville, Ill. (Western Illinois)
* Barbara Parker Jr-R Norfolk, England (Loughborough)
Jennifer Patterson Jr Valparaiso (Niceville)
Amanda Quick 5-7 Fr Tampa (Gaither)
Angelina Ramos 5-5 Jr-R New Fairfield, Conn. (New Fairfield)
Hshkeni Richemond So Suffern, N.Y. (Suffern)
Alysha Salapack Fr Seminole (Seminole)
Whitney Schnarr Sr Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (Saint Francis College)
Shannon Stuckman So Gainesville (P.K. Yonge)
Meredith Urban 5-9 Jr-R ** Raleigh, N.C. (Green Hope)
Julia Vola Jr-R Boca Raton (Spanish River)
Samantha Weeks Fr Seminole (Seminole)
Lydia Willemse So * Forest, Ontario, Canada (Saint Christopher)
* Abi Wilshire Sr * Bristol, England (Birmingham)
Christina Woytalewicz 5-5 Fr-R Brandon (Riverview)
2006 Conference Awards
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Susan Kuijken Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
All-Conference - 1
2006 All-Americans
Name Organization
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Susan Kuijken NCAA - All-American - 27th place
All-Americans - 1
2006 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appalachian State Invitational Boone, N.C. |
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| Notre Dame Invitational South Bend, Ind. |
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| FSU Invitational | |||||
| NCAA Pre-Nationals Terre Haute, Ind. |
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| ACC Championship Charlottesville, Va. |
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| NCAA South Region Championship Knoxville, Tenn. |
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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
2006 Atlantic Coast Conference Results 1 North Carolina State 59 2 Duke 88 3 Virginia 104 4 Florida State 118 5 Virginia Tech 123 6 North Carolina 138 7 Boston College 150 8 Wake Forest 166 9 Georgia Tech 194 10 Maryland 217 11 Clemson 343 12 Miami 384
2006 EOY Stats
Team Overall Name Races Top 7 Top 10 Wins =============================================== Jessica Crate 7 6 2 1 Amy Huss 6 6 1 0 Susan Kuijken 5 5 3 1 Debbie Huss 5 5 0 0 Laura Bowerman 5 5 0 0 Barbara Parker 5 4 1 0 Kirsten Hagen 4 4 1 0 Abi Wilshire 4 4 0 0 Lydia Willemse 4 3 0 0 Christina Woytalewicz 2 2 1 0 Meredith Urban 2 1 1 0 Audrey Hand 2 1 1 0 Shannon Coates 2 1 1 0 Amanda Hahn 2 1 0 0 Julia Vola 2 1 0 0 Ashley Andress 1 0 0 0 Kaley Matthews 1 0 0 0 Stefanie Bechler 1 0 0 0 Angelina Ramos 1 0 0 0 Hillary Palumbo 1 0 0 0 Christine Dion 1 0 0 0 Meredith Kelly 1 0 0 0 Ashley Montagnese 1 0 0 0 Samantha Weeks 1 0 0 0 Shannon Stuckman 1 0 0 0 Courtney Laster 1 0 0 0 Mary Magee 1 0 0 0 Laura Cullen 1 0 0 0 Hshkeni Richemond 1 0 0 0 Amanda Skillen 1 0 0 0 Quiana Holsey 1 0 0 0 Jennifer Patterson 1 0 0 0
This year marked the sixth-consecutive year that both squads placed in the top five at the State Farm Fields in Boone, N.C.
The Florida State University men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the season at the Covered Bridge Open hosted by Appalachian State University.
BOONE, NC - The Florida State University men's and women's cross country teams kicked off the season at the Covered Bridge Open hosted by Appalachian State University on Friday (Sept. 1). The women took home first place honors with a winning score of 30 points. The men's team also finished in the top five with 67 points, good enough to secure third place. This year marked the sixth-consecutive year that both squads placed in the top five at the State Farm Fields in Boone, N.C.
In the women's competition, the Seminoles finished four athletes in the top 10 and for the second year in a row took home the title of meet champions. Junior Amy Huss was tops on the team with a second-place time of 18:16.54. Head coach Bob Braman was pleased with the women's performance. "The top five were very, very close all night. We got a good win tonight."
Also scoring valuable points for the Seminoles was Barbara Parker (Norfolk, England) as she crossed the line in 18:32.95 for third place, Jessica Crate (Brights Grove, Ontario) with a time of 18:40.11 for 10th, Kirsten Hagen (Blacksburg, VA) clocking in at 18:41.15 in 11th and rounding out the top five, Debbie Huss with a time of 18:45.98 for 12th place.
The Seminole men finished third behind meet hosts Appalachian State (57) and first place Coastal Carolina (26). Junior Chris Nickinson (Pensacola, FL) scored the first points for FSU crossing the line in 10th place with a time of 26:35.11. Newcomers Trey Andrews (Titusville, FL) and Tony Krock (Avilla, IN) clocked in at 26:39.65 and 26:40.26 to finish in 12th and 13th respectively. Sophomore Javier Cruz (Miami, FL) contributed to the men's score with a time of 27:10.55 and junior Tommy Noyes (North Canton, OH) was the final scorer with a time of 27:31.05.
Andrew Lemoncello and Tom Lancashire did not run in the meet and were a few of the key performers absent from the top spots. "We were missing virtually our top five runners," Coach Braman explained, "the guys who ran were young but they did really well." That they did indeed, in fact three out of seven Seminole scorers were freshman.
The Florida State men and women keep the momentum going as they travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Saturday, September 16, for the Crimson Classic.
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 4 Amy Huss 2 18:16.54 5 Barbara Parker 3 18:32.95 9 Jessica Crate 7 18:40.11 10 Kirsten Hagen 8 18:41.15 12 Debbie Huss 10 18:45.98 17 Christina Woytalewicz 15 19:30.86 19 Lydia Willemse 17 19:35.41 26 Meredith Urban xxx 20:03.66 27 Audrey Hand xxx 20:05.24 36 Amanda Hahn xxx 20:28.86 37 Shannon Coates xxx 20:30.53 42 Julia Vola xxx 20:42.26
Seminoles Finish Strong at Notre Dame Invitational.
Florida State took fourth place in the women's and sixth in the men's races at the Notre Dame Invitational.
SOUTH BEND, IN - The Florida State men's and women's cross country teams competed in their first big meet of the season as they ran in the Notre Dame Invitational at Notre Dame, with both teams finishing in the top ten. The women placed fourth overall with a team score of 124 and the men placed sixth with 165 total points.
In the women's race, freshman Susan Kuijken (Steoelijk Gymnasium) was the first to score points for the Seminoles as she was the second to cross the line with a time of 16:52. "Susan's really good," Head Coach Bob Braman stated. "Placing second is huge for her; she beat a ton of All-Americans." Also scoring points for the women were sophomore Barbara Parker (Loughborough) with a time of 17:13, junior transfer Amy Huss (Vanderbilt) with a mark of 17:14, and senior Abi Wilshire (Birmingham) and junior co-captain Kirsten Hagen (Christiansburg) rounded-out the scoring as they clocked in at 17:41 and 17:44, respectively.
"This was a great meet for the women; they did an excellent job with the fourth place finish." Braman remarked. "Illinois was fourth in the country last year and we beat them today. We also finished ahead of our regional rivals Florida, Georgia and UNC Chapel Hill. So we beat a lot of good teams, I'm really pleased with them. This performance should move us into the top ten in the rankings."
For the men, Senior Andrew Lemoncello (Stirling) finished fourth with a time of 22:48 in his first race of the season. Fellow co-captain junior Tom Lancashire (Turton) was in eighth place across the line with an even time of 24:00. Rounding out the scoring for the men were junior Luke Gunn (Birmingham) with a time of 24:25, junior transfer Mark Buckingham (Sheffield) clocking in at 25:01 and junior Chris Nickinson (Booker T. Washington) with a 25:02 mark.
"The men did a good job for the first meet that counts," explained Coach Braman. "We struggled with Buckingham who came into the meet with a horrible chest cold. He is normally a top-ten finisher and wasn't there tonight. His being sick really cost us." The Notre Dame Invite was the first competition as a Seminole for Buckingham who transferred this season from England.
Although coming just five points shy of beating rivals Florida and Notre Dame is disappointing for the men's squad, they are definitely ahead of where they were this time last year, which is right where Braman expected them to be. While the Seminoles have been unsuccessful in beating the Gators at the ND Invite, they are undefeated against their in-state rival at the regional meet which takes place this year on November 11th.
Florida State's B-Team competes this Saturday, September 30th, in Auburn, Ala. at the Auburn Invitational. That meet will be followed by the FSU Invitational, which the Seminoles host on Saturday, October 7, 2006 at the Miccosukee Greenway.
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 2 Susan Kuijken 2 16:52 15 Barbara Parker 15 17:13 16 Amy Huss 16 17:14 43 Abi Wilshire 43 17:41 48 Kirsten Hagen 48 17:44 53 Laura Bowerman 53 17:45 54 Debbie Huss 54 17:46 56 Jessica Crate xxx 17:50 82 Lydia Willemse xxx 18:10
Seminoles Sweep The FSU Invitational.
Florida State took home the crown once again in the men's and women's races at their first home meet of the season.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The Florida State men's and women's cross country teams have once again claimed the team championship at their own FSU Invitational at Miccosukee Greenway on Saturday, Oct. 7th. The men's and women's B Teams competed and finished on top with 66 points for the men and 17 points for the women.
In the women's race, the leading pack was full of Seminoles as they were the first four athletes to cross the line, nearly sweeping the competition. Redshirt junior Jessica Crate (Brights Grove, Ontario, Canada/Arizona State) was the first runner to cross the line with a time of 17:46.72, earning the first of 17 points for FSU. Next up was junior Audrey Hand (Virginia Beach, VA/Kellam) in second place with a time of 18:16.34, in third place with a mark of 18:24.80 was redshirt freshman Christina Woytalewicz (Brandon, FL/Riverview) and the fourth Seminole across was junior Shannon Coates (Delreay Beach, FL/Spanish River) with a clock of 18:37.29. Rounding out the scoring in seventh place was redshirt junior Meredith Urban (Raleigh, NC/Green Hope) with an 18:53.57 mark.
"I was really pleased with our B Team ladies," Head Coach Bob Braman said. "They went one through four today which is really impressive. Jessica Crate looked awesome and I'm really pleased with her performance. I think we'll keep those top four in the mix with our varsity squad since we may need them at the end of the year. But overall, all of our ladies did great today and I'm very pleased."
For some of the women, today's race marked personal records for them, including Jessica Crate who shaved nearly two minutes off her record from last season. Also claiming PRs today were Audrey Hand and Christina Woytalewicz who both bettered their previous records by over one minute each.
"The guys did a nice job today," Braman stated. "We got the win and that's always a good thing."
Leading the scoring for the men was redshirt freshman Jason Lakritz (New Windsor, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) who finished in fifth place with a time of 26:01.29, setting a personal record. The next to score was junior Kenny Jesensky (Orlando, FL/Coastal Carolina) in ninth setting a new personal record with a time of 26:04.53, Christian Minor in 12th with a mark of 26:13.06, junior Tommy Noyes (North Canton, OH/Hoover) was the 17th to finish with a clock of 26:35.53 and rounding out the scoring for the Seminoles in 48th place was redshirt freshman Steven Wilson (Tallahassee, FL/Riverview) with a 28:13.95 mark.
"Jonathan Blocker ran unattached and placed fourth which is good for him," Braman noted. "Luke Beevor also ran unattached and we hope to get him ready in the next few weeks so he can be big at the conference and national meets."
The Seminole men have taken home the championship from the FSU Invitational five years in a row, while the women have claimed the title four years running.
The next meet for Florida State will be the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana on Saturday, October 14th.
Women Team Scores ============================================================== Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 ============================================================== 1 Florida State University 17 1 2 3 4 7 11 13 2 University of Tampa 75 5 10 14 20 26 34 39 3 University of North Florida 94 15 16 17 22 24 33 35 4 Jacksonville University 96 6 9 21 29 31 32 46 5 University of West Florida 106 12 18 23 25 28 38 40 6 Embry-Riddle 161 8 30 36 43 44 7 Troy University 180 19 27 42 45 47 48 50 8 Florida A&M University 230 37 41 49 51 52
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Jessica Crate 1 17:46.72 2 Audrey Hand 2 18:16.34 3 Christina Woytalewicz 3 18:24.80 4 Shannon Coates 4 18:37.29 7 Meredith Urban 7 18:53.57 12 Julia Vola 11 19:09.06 14 Amanda Hahn 13 19:19.88 25 Ashley Andress xxx 19:54.99 38 Kaley Matthews xxx 20:27.74 39 Stefanie Bechler xxx 20:31.77 46 Angelina Ramos xxx 20:51.08 47 Hillary Palumbo xxx 20:53.90 59 Christine Dion xxx 21:26.97 61 Meredith Kelly xxx 21:30.52 62 Ashley Montagnese xxx 21:32.12 63 Samantha Weeks xxx 21:33.26 66 Shannon Stuckman xxx 21:43.09 67 Courtney Laster xxx 21:43.64 68 Mary Magee xxx 21:53.31 73 Laura Cullen xxx 23:02.06 74 Hshkeni Richemond xxx 23:05.45 77 Amanda Skillen xxx 23:45.07 79 Quiana Holsey xxx 24:09.85 80 Jennifer Patterson xxx 24:11.06
Men's Cross Country Places Second At The 2006 Pre-Nationals While Women Place Seventh.
Senior Andrew Lemoncello places fifth while Junior Amy Huss leads the women in 27th.
TERRE HAUTE, IN - The Florida State No. 27 Men's and No. 12 Women's Cross Country teams ran at the 2006 Pre-Nationals today, October 14th. The men placed second with their highest Pre-Nationals finish ever with 141 points. The women's team placed seventh with 268 points.
On the men's team, senior Andrew Lemoncello (St. Andrews, Scotland) placed fifth with a time of 23:45.8. After competing sick at Notre Dame two weeks ago, junior Mark Buckingham (Huddersfield, England) came back strong with a 13th place finish for a 24:01.1 finish. Coming in right after him was junior Tom Lancashire (Bolton, England) placing 14th at 24:01.6. Junior Luke Gunn (Forest Gate, England) placed 26th with a time of 24:09.5. With a lifetime best of 24:47.1 was junior Chris Nickinson (Pensacola, Fla.) to place 83rd.
"We came into the meet placed 27th in the country and now we are looking at a definite top ten ranking," said head coach Bob Braman. "We beat our arch rival NC State, who was the number one team in the ACC, they beat us badly at Notre Dame. Probably the MVP of the team was Mark Buckingham. Mark was sick two weeks ago and finished sixtieth at Notre Dame and today had a much better finish and was our number two guy and finished thirteenth overall."
On the women's side, junior Amy Huss (Wyomissing, Penn.) placed the fourth fastest time ever at Florida State with a 27th finish of 20:49.2. Freshman Susan Kuijken (Nijemor, Netherlands) had a time of 21:08.1 to finish 51st. Senior Barbara Parker (Norfolk, England) finished behind her at 53rd with a time of 21:09.9. Finishing in 62nd was junior Jessica Crate (Brights Grove, Ontario, Canada) with her fastest time of 21:16.9. Junior Laura Bowerman (Temple Terrace, Fla.) closed out the top five with a 74th finish with a mark of 21:24.2.
"I really felt that the ladies competed hard. I probably ran them too hard last week in training," stated Braman. "A few of them were fighting hard but not running as hard as they liked to. We also had a bunch of lifetime best times. That is the fastest our fifth girl has ever run at any meet in the history of Florida State. We have accomplished what we came here to do which was to run hard, compete hard and to get some victories. Trust me, in two weeks at the ACCs, there are going to be some awfully hungry ladies out there trying to win the championship."
"What we were trying to do at this meet was beat a lot of great teams. Both teams, men and women, beat a lot of great teams. We pretty much punched our tickets to the National Championships today as long as we are in the top three or four at the Regions."
The Seminoles' next meet is at the ACC Championships in Charlottesville, Virginia on October 28th.
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 27 Amy Huss 27 20:50 52 Susan Kuijken 52 21:09 53 Barbara Parker 53 21:10 62 Jessica Crate 62 21:17 74 Laura Bowerman 74 21:25 98 Debbie Huss 98 21:41 142 Kirsten Hagen 142 22:04
Seminoles Finish 2nd And 4th, Respectively, At ACC Meet.
Lemoncello, Lancashire and Kuijken earn all-conference honors.
The Florida State men's and women's cross country programs earned top five finishes at the 2006 ACC Cross Country Championships held in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday morning. For the fourth straight season, the men's squad finished second while the women's team earned its best mark with a fourth-place finish.
Rounding out the top five team finishes on the men's side were: 1. NC State (31 pts); 2. FSU (79 pts); 3. Virginia (87 pts); 4. Duke (124 pts); 5. Clemson (132 pts).
"On the men's side, we got beat by probably a better team today," FSU head coach Bob Braman said. "I really think two things. One, we've been training really hard and I think we may have been tired. Secondly, it was really, really hilly and there's just nothing we can really do in Tallahassee to prepare for that. We'll be looking ahead to regionals and nationals and try to still be a top 10 team. That's our goal."
The Florida State women finished with 118 points, the Seminoles' lowest score ever. The top five on the women's side: 1. NC State (59 pts); 2. Duke (88 pts); Virginia (104 pts); Florida State (118 pts); 5. Virginia Tech (123 pts).
"In the big picture on the women's side, we made a lot of progress this year and I'm real proud of that," Braman said. "Susan Kuijken was our first in and she finished sixth and made all-conference and just missed being Freshman of the Year. Amy Huss was 15th and missed all-conference by one spot. Jessica Crate was 24th, so pretty solid. After that, we had a good pack but the pack was maybe a few spots from where we'd like to have been on a perfect day, but it was a good solid day, our highest finish ever.
"Both teams have a lot to look forward to with regionals and nationals in front of us and there is a lot of work still to be done."
Individually, Andrew Lemoncello and Tom Lancashire earned all-conference honors with second and 10th place finishes, respectively. Kuijken earned all-conference honors for the Florida State women.
WOMEN'S TEAM FINISHES: Rank Team Total 1 2 3 4 5 *6 *7 1 NC State 59 1 4 9 13 32 34 43 2 Duke 88 3 7 22 26 30 46 58 3 Virginia 104 5 8 10 28 53 64 67 4 Florida State 118 6 15 24 35 38 39 40 5 Virginia Tech 123 16 17 23 25 42 62 69 6 North Carolina 138 11 14 21 44 48 54 59 7 Boston College 150 12 19 33 37 49 51 73 8 Wake Forest 166 2 31 41 45 47 60 65 9 Georgia Tech 194 20 27 29 55 63 72 74 10 Maryland 217 18 36 50 56 57 61 71 11 Clemson 343 52 68 70 76 77 78 79 12 Miami 384 66 75 80 81 82 83 84
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 6 Susan Kuijken 6 21:20.2 15 Amy Huss 15 21:54.2 24 Jessica Crate 24 22:13.2 35 Abi Wilshire 35 22:39.3 38 Lydia Willemse 38 22:42.7 39 Kirsten Hagen 39 22:44.3 40 Laura Bowerman 40 22:45.1 57 Barbara Parker xxx 23:20.5
Florida State Finishes On Top At NCAA South Region Championship.
The Seminole men took home the meet crown as the women finish strong in fourth.
KNOXVILLE, TN - The men and women of Florida State cross country proved they were in top shape as they took home first and fourth place honors at the 2006 NCAA South Region Cross Country Championship hosted by the University of Tennessee. The South Region Champion men earned 67 points and the fourth-place women finished with 84 team points.
For the men's team, senior co-captain Tom Lancashire (Bolton, England/Turton) was the first Seminole across the line in fifth place with a time of 31:02.3. "On the guy's side, I'm really surprised we won to be honest," Head Coach Bob Braman said. ""This is a very difficult course, so you've really got to be careful. We really weren't trying to win, we were actually trying to be in the top four and qualify for nationals."
The men ran the first half of the race in a pack with Lancashire pulling away near the end in an attempt to beat out some of the competition. Crossing the line a few steps behind him was fellow co-captain and senior Andrew Lemoncello (St. Andrews, Scotland/Stirling) in ninth place and a 31:33.9 mark. The rest of the pack included junior transfers Luke Gunn (Forest Gate, England/Birmingham) in 12th with a time of 31:40.6 and Mark Buckingham (Huddersfield, England/Shefield) in 14th with a clock of 31:46.3. Rounding out the scoring for Florida State was redshirt sophomore Javier Cruz (Miami, FL/Belen Jesuit) who finished in 27th with a career best time of 32:28.8.
"I'm really encouraged because Javier Cruz did a great job," Braman said. "He just missed making the All-Region Team but he ran his career best race. He was up against some of the best runners in the southeastern United States. Javier was the unsung hero for us."
On the women's side, it was a day of firsts for freshman Susan Kuijken (Nijmegen, Netherlands/Stedel˙k Gymnasium). This was the first regionals she had ever competed in and with the individual championship she set a new course record with her time of 20:54.1. The record she broke belonged to Florida State alumnus Vicky Gill who finished the course at the Lambert Acres Golf Club in 2002 with a time of 21:03.87.
"It's a good feeling. As a freshman, I don't really know any of these girls, so it was kind of a surprise," Kuijken said. "I've never run regionals before, so I had no idea where I might finish or where I could end up. I never would have thought that I could win a regional race, especially for my first win in America. I always thought that regionals would be harder than conference, but I ran a good race today." Also scoring for the Lady Noles were redshirt juniors Amy Huss (Wyomissing, Pa/Vanderbilt) and Jessica Crate (Brights Grove, Ontario/Arizona State) who finished in 12th place with a time of 21:40.8 and 14th with a time of 21:45.5, respectively. Crossing the line in 20th was senior Abi Wilshire (Saltford, Bristol, England/Birmingham) with a 22:02.5 mark and in 37th was redshirt junior Debbie Huss (Wyomissing, Pa/Vanderbilt) with a clock of 22:25.1. The women's performance today earned four of them spots on the All-Region Team's Top 25 list.
"Susan was dominating today, she ran really, really well," Braman said. "We rested our number three girl, Barbara Parker, who if had she run we would have probably been second, but that's not what this was all about. We rested Barbara and also Kirsten Hagen so we can have our best team fresh and ready for nationals in a week."
Qualifiers for the NCAA National Cross Country Championships will be announced tomorrow night, November 12th and will be posted on Seminoles.com. The nationals are November 20th in Terre Haute, Indiana.
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Susan Kuijken 1 20:54.1 12 Amy Huss 12 21:40.8 14 Jessica Crate 14 21:45.5 20 Abi Wilshire 20 22:02.5 37 Debbie Huss 37 22:25.1 44 Laura Bowerman 44 22:41.8 70 Lydia Willemse 70 23:36.1
Florida State's Susan Kuijken Earns All-America Honors at NCAA Championship.
The men's and women's teams finished 30th and 21st, respectively.
TERRE HAUTE, IN - The Florida State men's and women's cross country teams competed at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on Monday and finished 30th and 21st, respectively.
The women's team, ranked No. 29 entering the meet, struggled with the mudded course, a result of rain over the weekend, to earn 436 points. The team placed only five points away from a Top Twenty finish. Freshman Susan Kuijken finished 27th, earning 23 points, with a time of 21:18 and was awarded All-America honors. Next to cross the line was redshirt junior Debbie Huss earning 89 points with a 22:18 mark. Also scoring for the Seminoles were junior Laura Bowerman with 100 points and a 22:24 time, followed by redshirt seniors Barbara Parker with 109 points and a 22:28 time and Jessica Crate who scored 115 with her clock of 22:31.
"The women did a nice job," Head Coach Bob Braman said. "We're ranked 29th in the country and finished 21st. We were very close to a top 15."
Redshirt junior Amy Huss was unable to score for FSU due to a strained groin muscle she had been battling for a few weeks.
"I felt bad for Amy Huss who ran injured," Braman said. "We ran through a lot of thick mud the whole way because it had rained all week. And Amy has had that injury for the past two races now and she's been able to get through, but today there was nothing she could do."
"Overall the ladies did a nice job," Braman said. "Debbie Huss and Laura Bowerman did a great job, they stepped up. Effort-wise we did a nice job."
This is the second Top Twenty-five finish for the women since they last competed in 2003 and placed 18th.
"We were darn close to the best ever," Braman said. "I know this was a better team than the 2003 team. The difference being the 2003 team had two front-runners in Vicky Gill and Natalie Hughes. They were both All-Americans and today we had only one in Susan Kuijken who has done a phenomenal job in her freshman year. All and all I'm pleased that the top four that crossed the line today are coming back next year. The future is bright. These women did a great job and fought through it."
The No. 10 ranked men's team also struggled with the muddy course and an injured runner, Mark Buckingham, who battled with a bad knee.
"This team is one of the best we've had since I've been here," Coach Braman said. "It is the best regular season team that we've had all year. I was really shocked. Mark Buckingham had a bad knee injury that basically took him out of the race. When the mud showed up, that was it for Mark. We took a big hit there because Mark is one of our top guys."
Senior Andrew Lemoncello was the first to score for the Seminoles, earning 24 points with his time of 31:49. The rest of the 602 points the men received came from senior Tom Lancashire (65 points, 32:31), junior Luke Gunn (128 points, 33:12), junior Mark Buckingham (191 points, 34:20) who managed to score despite his injury, and rounding off the points was junior Luke Beevor (194 points, 34:22).
"It was a tough day," Braman said. "I really feel for these guys, I think they deserve a much better fate. But on this day it wasn't meant to be and I honestly can't say why."
2006 NCAA DIVISION I CHAMPIONSHIPS
HOSTED BY INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2006
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WOMEN"S 6OOO METER TEAM RESULTS POINTS
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1. Stanford 3 27 45 58 62 (116) (138) - 195
2. Colorado 2 14 37 39 131 (178) (186) - 223
3. Michigan 10 40 41 50 92 (155) (172) - 233
4. Wisconsin 11 20 43 81 107 (159) (162) - 262
5. Arkansas 30 47 53 68 88 (102) (179) - 286
6. Texas Tech 1 8 46 111 134 (204) (215) - 300
7. Providence 6 64 72 74 85 (87) (211) - 301
8. Illinois 24 33 52 60 135 (153) (157) - 304
9. Cal-Santa Barbara 28 38 56 76 120 (151) (165) - 318
10. Duke 12 15 63 98 132 (168) (181) - 320
11. Minnesota 16 25 82 95 117 (124) (149) - 335
12. Michigan State 9 29 78 105 137 (187) (214) - 358
13. Arizona State 49 57 69 79 121 (126) (176) - 375
14. Virginia 17 21 55 140 150 (190) (193) - 383
15. Georgia 48 71 73 103 106 (192) (208) - 401
16. Georgetown 32 36 84 97 154 (173) (185) - 403
17. Iowa 7 26 35 166 175 (188) (210) - 409
18. Virginia Tech 61 70 91 94 101 (209) (212) - 417
19. North Carolina State 4 22 99 133 169 (180) (189) - 427
20. Iona 18 42 67 148 156 (177) (199) - 431
21. Florida State 23 89 100 109 115 (118) (145) - 436
22. Brigham Young 5 54 83 142 164 (170) (198) - 448
23. Princeton 65 77 80 104 128 (147) (202) - 454
24. Colorado State 34 93 112 113 123 (183) (203) - 475
25. Weber State 51 96 108 114 119 (174) (191) - 488
26. Florida 59 90 122 129 136 (141) (144) - 536
27. Wake Forest 13 44 143 160 194 (200) - 554
28. Tennessee 75 86 125 127 153 (201) - 565
29. Baylor 66 110 130 158 167 (171) (207) - 631
30. Boston College 31 139 146 161 184 (197) (213) - 661
31. North Carolina 19 163 182 195 196 (205) (206) - 755
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 27 Susan Kuijken 23 21:17.1 118 Debbie Huss 89 22:17.1 132 Laura Bowerman 100 22:23.4 141 Barbara Parker 109 22:27.6 148 Jessica Crate 115 22:30.6 151 Amy Huss 118 22:31.6 180 Abi Wilshire 145 22:48.6