2017 Women's Cross Country - Year In Review
Kelly Phillips, Head Coach
David Beauchem, Director of Operations
Alex Midgett, Volunteer Assistant
Click here to see individual mug shots
2017 Women's Cross Country - Year In Review | |
| Coaching Staff Kelly Phillips, Head Coach David Beauchem, Director of Operations Alex Midgett, Volunteer Assistant Click here to see individual mug shots |
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Mackenzie Brown, Sarasota
Liz Coen, Fleming Island
Addi Coggins, Franklin, Tenn.
Kayla Easterly, North Fort Myers
Elizabeth Jenkins, Maitland
Jodie Judd, Essex, England
Jenn Lima, Palm Harbor
Maudie Skyring, Wollonong, Australia
Micaela Torres, Tampa
2017 Roster - By Name
L
T PY
R Name Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
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Kelly Aponte So Saint Augustine (Saint Augustine)
Mackenzie Baysinger Jr Rockledge (Rockledge)
Kate Bernicke Fr Avon, Ind. (Avon)
Delsie Borgen So Lithia (Newsome/Florida Atlantic)
Mackenzie Brown Fr Sarasota (Sarasota)
* Sarah Candiano Jr ** Fort Myers (Evangelical Christian)
Elizabeth Cobb So-R Winter Springs (Winter Springs)
Liz Coen Fr Fleming Island (Saint Johns Country Day)
* Addi Coggins Fr Franklin, Tenn. (Independence)
Ginelle DeMone So Leduc, Alberta, Canada (Leduc Composite)
Kayla Easterly Fr North Fort Myers (North Fort Myers)
* Emily Edwards Sr Cape Coral (Fort Myers/Alabama)
Mollie Golicher Jr Tampa (Wharton/Wofford)
Madison Harris Jr-R * Ochlockonee Bay (Wakulla)
Kellie Hays Sr Tallahassee (Lincoln)
Hailey Hendry So * Brentwood, Tenn. (Brentwood)
* Althea Hewitt Jr Cocoa Beach (Cocoa Beach)
Claire Hooker So Fort Collins, Colo. (Fort Collins)
Claire Igoe Sr Crofton, Md. (South River)
* Fatema Jaffer Jr ** Longwood (Lake Mary)
* Elizabeth Jenkins Fr Maitland (Winter Park)
* Jodie Judd Fr Essex, England (The King John Sixth Form)
Eliana Karr So-R Winter Springs (Winter Springs)
Annie Kennedy Sr Jacksonville (Bishop Kenny)
Katie Kuhn So Winter Park (Winter Park)
MacKenzie Landa Jr-R San Dimas, Calif. (Bonita/Fresno State)
Jenn Lima Fr Palm Harbor (East Lake)
Jessica Lonas Jr * Sarasota (Riverview)
* Militsa Mircheva Jr Dobrich, Bulgaria (FSG Vasil Levski)
* Megan Mooney So * Thornton, Colo. (Horizon)
Sarah Myers Fr-R Ormond Beach (Seabreeze)
Katherine Patrick So Bartow (Bartow)
Bella Poole Sr Ponte Vedra Beach (Ponte Vedra)
* Maudie Skyring Fr Wollonong, Australia (Illawarra Grammar/Wollonong)
Kayla Thomas Jr-R Jacksonville (Stanton)
Micaela Torres Fr Tampa (King)
Shannon Turner Fr-R Fort Lauderdale (Saint Thomas Aquinas)
* Forever Young Jr-R Daytona Beach (Seabreeze)
Melissa Zyla Jr Fairfield, N.J. (West Essex)
2017 Conference Awards
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Militsa Mircheva Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
All-Conference - 1
2017 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covered Bridge Open Boone, N.C. |
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| Virginia Tech Invitational Blacksburg, Va. |
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| Mountain Dew Invitational Gainesville, Fla. |
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| Notre Dame Invitational Notre Dame, Ind. |
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| FSU Invitational | |||||
| Wisconsin Invitational Madison, Wis. |
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| Crimson Classic Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
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| ACC Championship Louisville, Ky. |
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| NCAA South Regional Tuscaloosa, Ala. |
EOY StatsRef Overall Home Away Neutral ------------------------------------------------ FSU record is 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0
2017 Atlantic Coast Conference Results 1 North Carolina State 43 2 Louisville 109 3 Virginia Tech 129 4 Syracuse 134 5 Wake Forest 166 6 Notre Dame 175 7 Duke 180 8 Virginia 182 9t Florida State 210 9t Pittsburgh 210 11 North Carolina 244 12 Georgia Tech 258 13 Boston College 348 14 Clemson 378 15 Miami 461
2017 EOY Stats
Team Overall Name Races Top 7 Top 10 Wins =============================================== Militsa Mircheva 7 7 4 3 Althea Hewitt 7 7 1 0 Emily Edwards 7 6 2 0 Megan Mooney 7 5 2 0 Jodie Judd 6 6 3 0 Forever Young 6 5 1 0 Maudie Skyring 6 3 0 0 Addi Coggins 5 5 1 0 Sarah Candiano 5 4 0 0 Fatema Jaffer 5 2 0 0 Jenn Lima 5 2 0 0 Elizabeth Jenkins 4 2 0 0 MacKenzie Landa 4 1 1 0 Micaela Torres 3 2 0 0 Bella Poole 3 2 0 0 Jessica Lonas 3 1 0 0 Hailey Hendry 3 0 0 0 Sarah Myers 3 0 0 0 Mackenzie Brown 3 0 0 0 Kate Bernicke 3 0 0 0 Claire Hooker 3 0 0 0 Katie Kuhn 3 0 0 0 Shannon Turner 2 1 0 0 Madison Harris 2 1 0 0 Mollie Golicher 2 0 0 0 Mackenzie Baysinger 2 0 0 0 Kellie Hays 2 0 0 0 Ginelle DeMone 2 0 0 0 Eliana Karr 2 0 0 0 Elizabeth Cobb 2 0 0 0 Kayla Easterly 1 0 0 0 Kelly Aponte 1 0 0 0 Melissa Zyla 1 0 0 0 Katherine Patrick 1 0 0 0 Liz Coen 1 0 0 0 Delsie Borgen 1 0 0 0
Mircheva, FSU Women Romp Behind Deep Lineup.
Noles put seven in top 15 at Covered Bridge Open.
BOONE, NC – Militsa Mircheva’s long-awaited Florida State cross country debut was a winner, as the Bulgarian blitzed the field at the Covered Bridge Open, leading the Seminole women to a runaway victory.
A junior, Mircheva was dominant over the 5,000-meter course in rainy and cool conditions at the State Farm Fields Course, winning in 16:53.29. She was one of four Noles in the top eight – there were seven in the top 15 – as FSU totaled just 25 points to easily turn back host Appalachian State (68).
Sophomore Megan Mooney was third (17:32.01), senior transfer Emily Edwards finished fifth (17:59.55) and junior transfer Mackenzie Landa was eighth (18:09.15). That trio was followed by freshman Addi Coggins (12th, 18:17.44), junior Althea Hewitt (13th, 18:23.00) and sophomore transfer Maudie Skyring (15th, 18:26.83).
“What a difference a year makes,” said third-year coach Kelly Phillips, whose team was third a year ago at the meet. “It was a great start. Everyone came in with the attitude I was hoping for. They raced with the attitude I was hoping for and they left, going, ‘OK, that was a good start, now we’ve got some work to do.’”
Phillips came into the season expecting the Seminoles’ depth to be a strength and she wasn’t disappointed. Only 93 seconds separated the Seminoles top seven finishers, which was comprised of five women making their FSU debuts and a sixth who was making her first road trip with the team’s top runners as a junior.
All 11 Noles that Phillips sent to the starting line were across the finish line inside the top 40 from a field of 123 finishers.
Sophomore Hailey Hendry (18th, 18:31.78), junior Fatema Jaffer (25th, 18:47.28) and freshmen Kayla Easterly (31st, 18:59.33) and Jen Lima (39th, 19:14.13) rounded out the FSU finishers.
The depth overwhelmed at Appalachian State team which won the Sun Belt Conference title last season and is favored to repeat again. Division II power Southern Indiana (74 points) was third, followed by Tennessee-Martin (116) and East Tennessee State (126).
Competing unattached, Ann Asipan, who was 18th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 5,000 (16:06) in June, bolted to the front from the start but was chased down by Mircheva before the two-mile mark.
“Militsa looked great; she looked strong,” Phillips said, after watching her 2016 Olympian in the marathon pull away over the last half of the race. Asipan, who ran at Tennessee-Martin last year, was the runner-up in 17:24.26.
Mooney, who missed last season’s Covered Bridge opener, very nearly gave the Noles a 1-2 finish on her first time at the course.
“This is a course for Mooney,” Phillips said. “She likes it wet and sloppy, because she almost caught the runner-up, who wasn’t anywhere near her with 1,200 meters to go.
“Emily was strong, Landa was smooth and Skyring can race.”
Between Landa and Skyring were two of FSU’s biggest surprises of the meet – Coggins, the first of three Seminole freshmen, and Hewitt.
“Addi Coggins looked fantastic and she had a slow start to training this summer because of an injury, so she’s just getting things going,” Phillips added. “And how awesome was Althea? She worked her butt off this summer. I told her in the spring, ‘You had a great spring and I’m going to take you to camp.’ She took that as, ‘Thank you, I’m going to prove that I belong there.’ She trained so hard and looked amazing.”
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Militsa Mircheva 1 16:53.29 3 Megan Mooney 2 17:32.01 5 Emily Edwards 4 17:59.55 8 MacKenzie Landa 7 18_09.15 12 Addi Coggins 11 18:17.44 13 Althea Hewitt 12 18:23.00 15 Maudie Skyring 14 18:26.83 18 Hailey Hendry 18:31.78 25 Fatema Jaffer 18:47.28 31 Kayla Easterly 18:59.33 39 Jenn Lima 19:14.13
Mircheva, XC Women Win Again; Men Second At VT.
Noles women go 1-2-3; Barney third to pace men.
BLACKSBURG, VA - With a little over a half-mile remaining in Friday's Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational race, sophomore Megan Mooney knew the Seminole women were well positioned to win.
"Going into the last part of the race, the last half-mile, I could see Militsa [Mircheva] going up the last hill, saw Jodie [Judd] a little behind her and then the girl from Ohio," said Mooney, who was running fourth over the rolling hills of the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course. "I knew if I could pass her it would be a 1-2-3 finish.
"I just gave it all I've got the last 100 or 200 to get that girl."
Mooney sprinted past her target - Ohio senior Eileen Isaac - with 100 meters to go, securing that 1-2-3 finish to mathematically assure the Seminoles their second team title in as many meets this season.
Mircheva, a junior, won her second individual title of the season, cruising the 6,000-meter course in 20:45.0 to outdistance Judd, the runner-up in 21:15.6 in her freshman debut with the Noles. Mooney was third in 21:24.9.
Senior Emily Edwards (seventh, 21:46.3) and junior Sarah Candiano (12th, 22:13.3) closed out the 25-point team total as the Noles hammered runner-up Ohio (55 points), host Virginia Tech (87) and the rest of the 14-team field.
"This is amazing," Mircheva said. "This year our team is very dedicated, so we really want to be in a good place as a team. Today was a really a great race for the team and I feel good when I can be a part of a team like that."
FSU's men were not quite as successful, finishing second to 26th-ranked host Virginia Tech, which was victorious by a 36-55 margin.
Graduate transfer David Barney led the Noles for the second consecutive meet, finishing third overall and second among collegians in the field of 147 finishers. It was a happy homecoming for the Lynchburg, Va. native, who ran as an undergrad at William & Mary but was getting his first look at the Virginia Tech course.
"I enjoyed being back, being home, seeing my family and racing some people that I know," said Barney, who covered the 8,000-meter course in 24:52.4 and trailed unattached runner Willy Fink (24:48.0) and Morehead State's Farah Abdulkarim (24:50.4) across the finish line.
"I just tried to stick to the race plan; keep the first three miles under control and work the last two. I was with the [Virginia] Tech guys the last mile and I know they can kick so I tried to put some distance on them the last mile and then hold them off. There were some good guys up front other teams, and it's early in the season so I don't quite have the finishing speed yet."
The short-handed Seminoles, ultimately, didn't have quite enough firepower to withstand a late push by a five-pack of Hokies, who grabbed finishing positions 6-9 and 11th, split by FSU senior Michael Hall (10th, 25:12.0).
Sophomore Tyson Murray (16th, 25:31.6), grad student Bryce Kelley (18th, 34.8) and sophomore Steven Cross (19th, 25:35.4) rounded out FSU's top five.
"We know VT really well and there are two things you know about them," FSU coach Bob Braman said. "They're going to run really well on their home course and there's always a guy that you don't know who he is that is going to run well and there was one today.
"They're a top-20 team and it kind of gives us a target. We're about 10 seconds a man average behind them and we still have Istvan [Szogi] and Stan [Linton] that are going to plug in and those are veterans. I think they might have handled it a little better. We have a couple guys who are just coming into their own in cross country for the first time ever - Bryce Kelley, Ty Murray and Steven Cross. Those guys are finding themselves and they're running in an environment that was Virginia Tech's best and they ran well."
With Szogi and Linton not in the lineup, and Michael Callegari still on the comeback trail following offseason surgery, the Noles figure to make gains throughout the season, which begins in earnest at the Joe Piane/Notre Dame Invitational in two weeks.
"I can tell our team is strong right now and still learning how to race, but it's early, so we'll just keep learning and keep improving," Barney said.
While the Seminole men didn't quite have the depth to contend with Virginia Tech, the depth of the women's team was clearly on display.
Third-year coach Kelly Phillips' charges placed five in the top 12, nine in the top 20 and had all 13 finishers across the line in the top 27.
"From top to bottom I thought they ran really well," said Phillips, after her team - picked to finish 10th in the ACC Preseason Coaches' Poll - easily handled a Hokies squad tabbed for third in the conference. "I'm excited to see what they can do in a bigger competition when it really matters. I think they're starting to realize, when they start comparing other times from previous races here, that they can run with top teams."
While the Noles will get that test at Notre Dame, the Seminole women are clearly riding an emotional high.
"It's so exciting," Mooney said. "I'm very excited for November to come around. I wish it was here already. Things are clicking and the workouts are going great. Everyone is pushing each other. Having people so close together basically through nine girls, it makes it a lot more competitive and people are wanting to push harder to get on that travel team. I'm loving the team this year."
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Militsa Mircheva 1 20:45.0 2 Jodie Judd 2 21:15.6 3 Megan Mooney 3 21:24.9 7 Emily Edwards 7 21:46.3 12 Sarah Candiano 12 22:13.3 15 Addi Coggins 15 22:20.6 16 Althea Hewitt 16 22:23.5 17 Forever Young 22:28.0 20 MacKenzie Landa 22:39.5 21 Maudie Skyring 22:42.7 24 Jenn Lima 22:45.9 25 Hailey Hendry 22:46.1 27 Fatema Jaffer 22:48.7
Young, Freshmen Lead Big Improvement at Mountain Dew.
GAINESVILLE, FL – Forever Young continued her breakthrough cross country season Saturday
morning at the Mark Bostic Golf Course, leading the Florida State women’s team with an 11th-place overall finish at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
Young, a redshirt junior, covered the 5,000-meter course in 18:21.1 – her third career-best performance in as many races this season – to lead the Seminoles to a fourth-place finish in the field of 32 teams.
Freshman Jen Lima finished 22nd (18:43.5) and was followed by first-year teammates Elizabeth Jenkins (37th, 18:57.9) and Micaela Torres (46th, 19:09.8).
Junior Jessica Lonas (60th, 19:26.0) rounded out FSU’s top five scorers, with redshirt freshman Shannon Turner (73rd, 19:36.3) and senior Bella Poole (19:42.5) completing the top seven.
Young and Lima were the lone Noles who had previously competed with FSU’s top group of runners this season.
“Forever ran outstanding and Lima ran very well,” FSU women’s coach Kelly Phillips said. “We didn’t run 11 of our girls, but our top four freshmen [Lima, Jenkins, Torres and Turner] did a really nice job.”
Host Florida claimed the team title with a meet-low 88 points, followed by FIU (148) and UNF (156). The Seminoles (168) finished immediately in front of Jacksonville (189) and UCF (228).
There were 15 NCAA Division I teams in the field.
“As a team they’ve progressed an awful lot as a group,” said Phillips, whose team was ninth last year. “The course ran a little slow because of all the water. We went out a little conservatively and came on to finish strong.”
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 11 Forever Young 10 18:21.1 22 Jenn Lima 21 18:43.5 37 Elizabeth Jenkins 35 18:57.9 46 Micaela Torres 44 19:09.8 60 Jessica Lonas 58 19:26.0 73 Shannon Turner 71 19:36.3 78 Bella Poole 76 19:42.5 82 Sarah Myers 19:49.0 93 Mackenzie Brown 20:03.8 114 Kate Bernicke 20:21.4 117 Claire Hooker 20:22.8 131 Kelly Aponte 20:41.5 132 Melissa Zyla 20:43.0 146 Katie Kuhn 20:58.9 173 Katherine Patrick 21:33.9 191 Mollie Golicher 22:00.1 199 Mackenzie Baysinger 22:18.7 202 Kellie Hays 22:24.4
Mooney, Judd Lead Young Women To Solid Showing.
Noles finish 11th against strong Piane Invitational field; men are 16th.
NOTRE DAME, IN - There was no shortage of bright spots for the Florida State women's cross country team at Friday's 62nd running of the Joe Piane Invitational at Notre Dame.
The Seminoles finished 11th out of 20 teams in their first test of the season against the nation's strongest assembled field to date, knocking off a pair of ACC rivals and a South Region foe in the process. Most encouragingly, three of the Noles' top four finishers were freshmen or sophomores.
Sophomore Megan Mooney led the way, placing 35th in the deep field, covering the rocket-fast Burke Golf Course track in 17:07.8. Freshman Jodie Judd was on Mooney's heels, placing 39th (17:10.3), while fellow frosh Addi Coggins was 80th (17:47.0).
"We've got a lot of good young pieces," said FSU women's coach Kelly Phillips. "We were good but not great today and I guess if you're not going to be great, today is the day to do it. They were solid all of the way through."
Junior Militsa Mircheva, who won the first two meets of the season in runaway fashion, was FSU's third finisher in 17:40.8 (66th). Senior Emily Edwards' gritty 84th-place finish (17:48.8) rounded out the Seminoles' scoring five.
"Militsa had a little bit of a tough day," Phillips said. "This is the first time she's had to be around people so I think it might have thrown her, so I think she learned from it.
"Addi Coggins was phenomenal. She ran really well. We had a good pack and moving forward as we get to Wisconsin, if MIlitsa is back where she belongs we're a very good team."
Though courses differ drastically, four of FSU's top five finishers registered cross country personal-bests for 5,000 meters. So did junior Althea Hewitt (18:08.1), who was the Noles' sixth finisher and 111th overall.
Mooney, who shaved 16 seconds and 37 positions off her 2016 finish at Notre Dame, was ecstatic over her individual effort and encouraged by how she and her teammates performed.
"Last year I PR'd from high school by about 10 seconds, so this year I was looking for another big PR, which came," the Colorado native said. "Knowing the course and knowing how well I ran last year really boosted my confidence for this year…I definitely did not get a good start, so just staying calm helped me a lot and I knew I had a lot of time to make up ground."
Mooney and Edwards were the only two Noles who had previously raced the course, which is not only tight and fast, but on this day was jammed with seven nationally ranked teams including No. 1 Colorado, No. 3 New Mexico and No. 6 NC State, which finished 1-2-3.
"Now that we have this big race out of the way, when we get to other big races like ACC's and Regionals, with less people than this one, we will be able to focus more on what the goal is and run more as a team," Mooney said. "We will be able to find each other. We know what we have and we can do it."
Phillips believes Friday's race experience will carry over.
"This will get them to say, 'OK, this is where we are and this is where we need to be,'" Phillips said. "They got a chance to run with two of the best teams in the country, and they want to be that. If you want to be that in a year or two, you need to get your butt kicked by them…
"We have some things we need to tweak but that's why you come to these meets, to see what you're missing and what you need to fix. Overall I think we leave very solid and healthy."
There was a decidedly different tone emanating from the Seminole men, who placed 16th in the field of 21 teams.
"This is a meet I like coming to," men's coach Bob Braman said. "It's high risk, high reward and we came up on the bad side of that. It's very difficult to come here and train through it…I think we're a tired team right now. And we're missing two big pieces with Steven Cross having a really bad head/chest cold and Michael Callegari hasn't come back physically from his surgery yet.
"It's hard to have a couple of your plug-in pieces unplugged. You've got two non-scorers right away and then the other guys are trying to patch it together."
David Barney led the Noles for the third consecutive meet, finished 62nd in 24:43.3 over the five-mile course. Senior Michael Hall was 73rd in 24:54.7, his best time and finish in three appearances at the Burke Golf Course, while Bryce Kelley rounded out the top three in 25:00.9 and 85th overall.
Stanley Linton (93rd, 25:06.3) and Istvan Szogi (98th, 25:08.7) accounted for the final two scoring spots among Noles, who did manage to knock off ACC foes Notre Dame and Pitt, but were well back of South Region rival Alabama and No. 30 NC State, which placed eighth and ninth.
"I know we're a lot better team," Braman said. "It's a really good meet and if you're off a little bit and you don't suck it up and fight through you're going to get punished. That's what happened to us. It's a brutal sport. When you're tired and struggling a lot of people can beat you and your weaknesses stand out a little more than your strengths."
That the Noles escaped the meet unscathed on the health-front, aside from Callegari pulling out of the race in the late stages as he continues his comeback from injury, was one plus. So was the fact that the top five finished within 25 seconds of each other, albeit not as fast as they will need to be moving forward.
"It's still September," said Braman, whose squad completed the first of three consecutive meets. "It's no time to panic. We've got the home meet. Maybe this changes things for Friday. Maybe we go out to the home meet and do a little soul-searching; maybe we find out where we are and maybe we're a little better than we were today."
The Seminoles host the FSU Invitational on Friday, Oct. 6, with the men leading a full weekend of racing off with an 8,000-meter race at 7:40 a.m. followed by the women's 5,000-meter race at 8:20 p.m.
Then it's off to Wisconsin for the Nuttycombe Invitational, a meet that will be far deeper in talent than the Joe Piane Invitational, which included five nationally-ranked teams.
"This whole thing can turn in two weeks," Braman said. "We can go to Wisconsin and be who I think we are and all of a sudden you've got the [NCAA qualifying] points, you've got the momentum and you go into the conference meet with a little bounce in your step."
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 35 Megan Mooney 35 17:07.8 39 Jodie Judd 39 17:10.3 66 Militsa Mircheva 65 17:40.8 80 Addi Coggins 77 17:47.0 84 Emily Edwards 80 17:48.8 111 Althea Hewitt 105 18:08.1 114 Sarah Candiano 108 18:12.8 121 Maudie Skyring 18:20.7 127 MacKenzie Landa 18:27.3
Storming The Field, Noles Roll To FSU Invitational Titles.
Hall leads men; Mircheva posts third win for women.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - The missions were similar and so were the results.
With eyes on the quickly approaching postseason, the Florida State men's and women's cross country teams spent Friday morning at Apalachee Regional Park purposefully cruising to FSU Invitational team titles.
With Michael Hall, David Barney and Michael Callegari claiming third, fourth and fifth-place finishes, the Seminole men had no trouble authoring their fourth consecutive FSU Invitational title. Five Noles were among the first eight across the finish line in the 7,882-meter race, easily capturing top honors in the six-team Division I scoring column.
"I was really pleased with today's race," said FSU men's coach Bob Braman, whose Noles finished with a meager 20 points. "We had a race plan that will set us up well for Wisconsin next week, and we executed it perfectly. I think we were actually a bit fast but we were able to keep our pack together anyway."
Florida A&M's David Too (24:15.6) claimed top individual honors as the other hometown team finished second with 62 points, edging Florida in a tie-breaker.
The Seminole women were turning in an equally dominating performance behind the 1-2 finish of junior Militsa Mircheva and freshman Jodie Judd. Stuffing five runners in the top 10 left FSU with a 24-point total, easily out-distancing runner-up Jacksonville (50). The Gators were third with 71 points.
"We had three different goals," FSU women's coach Kelly Phillips said. "We had a group coming out to race hard, a group that was trying to get on the ACC team and then a group that was using the race as a tempo run with a strong last mile to make sure we had a good final finish.
"I'm happy to announce they all followed their plan, which can sometimes be tough, because you're watching some people go out really hard and you're trying to hold yourself back. That's not easy when you're competitive. They all did a really nice job of sticking to the plan while having some fun and still getting some work done."
Bouncing back from a sub-par performance last week at Notre Dame, Mircheva came cruising across the finish line in 17:45.2 at the end of 5,000 meters. It was her third win of the season in four starts.
Judd was second in 17:52, followed by junior Althea Hewitt (fifth, 18:04.4) and freshman Addi Coggins (sixth, 18:05.1). Forever Young was FSU's fifth scorer, placing 10th (18:25.8).
The women's depth was on display as six more Noles were among the 20; good enough to win the meet on their own.
Fatema Jaffer (12th, 18:28.1), Madison Harris (14th, 18:31.6), Megan Mooney (15th, 18:34.5), Mackenzie Landa (16th, 18:37.1), Elizabeth Jenkins (17th, 18:40.9) and Emily Edwards (18th, 18:41.6) came streaming across in an impressive swarm.
On the men's side, Hall was FSU's No. 1 runner for the first time in his career. The senior from Cincinnati, Ohio ran 24:32.1 for a comfortable margin in front of Barney (24:46.1) and Callegari (24:47.2).
Kelley (seventh, 24:49.7) and Szogi (eighth, 24:55.8) provided the final two scoring spots for the Noles, who stuffed four more inside the top 20 as well. Steven Cross (12th, 25:09.0), Ty Murray (15th, 25:24.7), Matt Magee (16th, 25:28.5) and Bert Freire (20th, 25:46.2) made up that group.
"Hall and Barney have run well every time they've worn the colors and today was no different," Braman said. "Callegari and Kelley continued their progress from injuries and Isti and Cross are also getting better each week."
More important than the outcome for the men was the flushing of a 16th-place team finish at Notre Dame last Friday.
"We really needed some momentum after Notre Dame and we definitely achieved that today," Braman said.
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Militsa Mircheva 1 17:45.2 2 Jodie Judd 2 17:52.4 5 Althea Hewitt 5 18:04.4 6 Addi Coggins 6 18:05.1 10 Forever Young 10 18:24.5 12 Fatema Jaffer 11 18:28.1 14 Madison Harris 13 18:31.6 15 Megan Mooney 18:34.5 16 MacKenzie Landa 18:37.1 17 Elizabeth Jenkins 18:40.9 18 Emily Edwards 18:41.6 21 Sarah Candiano 18:53.0 25 Hailey Hendry 18:58.8 29 Jenn Lima 19:11.2 33 Maudie Skyring 19:18.9 36 Micaela Torres 19:20.4 37 Jessica Lonas 19:20.4 41 Bella Poole 19:26.0 42 Sarah Myers 19:34.5 43 Mackenzie Brown 19:37.9 52 Ginelle DeMone 19:45.4 60 Katie Kuhn 20:01.0 71 Kate Bernicke 20:16.0 80 Eliana Karr 20:33.2 85 Claire Hooker 20:40.3 91 Elizabeth Cobb 20:47.8 94 Shannon Turner 20:57.5 116 Liz Coen 21:39.0 124 Mackenzie Baysinger 21:47.9 132 Kellie Hays 22:11.4 134 Delsie Borgen 22:20.7 152 Mollie Golicher 23:08.7
Hall-led Men’s XC Team Steps Up At Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invite.
Noles claim three ranked wins with 23rd place finish.
VERONA, WI – Racing against 20 of the nation’s top 30 ranked teams, the Florida State men’s cross country team advanced their cause heading into the postseason with a 23rd-place finish at Friday’s Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational.
Led by senior Michael Hall’s 78th-place finish (24:34.0) in the 8,000-meter race, and a chase group of four runners separated by just 11 seconds, the Seminoles knocked off nationally ranked Illinois (No. 26), ACC rival Virginia (18) and host Wisconsin (28) in the field of 35 teams.
“I thought we competed out tails off,” FSU men’s coach Bob Braman said. “Maybe we didn’t get that big sexy finish, but I’m real pleased with it. We definitely stepped forward and definitely showed we’re going in the right direction.”
“I feel good about sizing up the people we’ve got to beat [in the postseason].”
Hall was the Seminoles’ top finisher for the second consecutive meet, mowing down 22 runners over the final 2,000 meters, crushing that distance in 5:47.
“Mike has become a real good cross country, which was his mission this year,” Braman said. “When you come out of a field like this and you place in the 70s, you’ve had a good day. There were some points in the race where he really had a chance at a much higher finish, but he’s still learning it. He’s still learning that the super intense pain goes on for a long time and not just one or two laps. I’m real pleased with him. He runs within himself and he runs smart.”
David Barney was running in the top 60 at the halfway point, but faded in the final stretch at the Zimmer Championship Course. He was eventually caught by Stanley Linton, and the two finished side-by-side, with Linton 115th (24:52.7) and Barney 116th (24:52.8). Michael Callegari (130th, 24:56.5) and Steven Cross (149th, 25:03.3) closed out the Seminole scorers, with Istvan Szogi finishing 171st (25:13.2).
“David Barney had a great, great race going and just tightened up – got a stitch or something – and was afraid he was going to go out the back [of the pack],” Braman explained. “He was just in management mode and it cost him a lot of spots. He responded and got it going again and chased Stan in.”
Braman was most encouraged by the improved performances of Callegari and Cross, who have been battling ailments.
“Everybody is moving forward,” said Braman, whose team now turns its attention to the ACC Championships in two weeks.
While the men’s team was making strides, coach Kelly Phillips’ women hit their first bump of the season, placing 28th out of 33 teams.
The Noles were once again led by junior Militsa Mircheva (70th, 20:56.8) and freshman Jodie Judd (72nd, 20:58.3), but didn’t get their third runner - sophomore Megan Mooney – home until the 149th position. Mooney ran 21:41.9 for the 6,000-meter race on a day when the field which included 16 of the nation’s top 30 teams was extraordinarily fast.
“No excuses, we just didn’t race well today,” Phillips said. “We have two weeks to regroup and get better. They will be fine. They know they are better than that.”
Mircheva and Mooney paid dearly for slow starts as they were forced to push their way through a field of 225 runners. The Noles were also short-handed as freshman Addi Coggins was a pre-race scratch for precautionary reasons.
Sarah Candiano (180th, 22:07.8), Emily Edwards (182nd, 22:08.7) and Althea Hewitt (191st, 22:15.9) rounded out the finishers.
In the collegiate men’s open race, redshirt sophomore Tyson Murray, competing individually, finished 61st (26:00.6).
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 70 Militsa Mircheva 70 20:57.1 72 Jodie Judd 72 20:58.6 149 Megan Mooney 149 21:42.3 180 Sarah Candiano 180 22:08.0 182 Emily Edwards 182 22:09.2 191 Althea Hewitt 191 22:16.1
Young strong for women at Crimson Classic.
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Junior Forever Young continued her breakout campaign Friday at the Crimson Classic, placing 55th overall to lead all FSU women in the 6,000-meter race at the Harry Pritchett Running Course, site of the NCAA South Region meet.
Young shaved 36 seconds of her previous 6k-best – set earlier this season at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational - finishing in 21:52.6 to virtually assure a place on the Seminoles’ ACC Championships roster.
Junior Fatema Jaffer (66th, 21:59.6), sophomore Maudie Skyring (80th, 22:13.0), freshmen Jennifer Lima (121st, 22:47.1), Micaela Torres (132nd, 22:56.7) and Elizabeth Jenkins (133rd, 22:59.1), and senior Bella Poole (135th, 23:00.7) followed in support.
The Seminoles finished 15th overall in the field of 31 teams, competing well against some of the top teams in the South Region, despite the fact that they were fielding a split squad.
Competing individually in the men’s 8,000-meter race, Matt Magee was FSU’s top finisher (84th, 26:07.2), followed by Bert Freire (110th, 26:28.6) and Thomas Hogarty (136th, 26:53.3).
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 51 Forever Young 51 21:52.6 62 Fatema Jaffer 61 21:59.6 76 Maudie Skyring 74 22:13.0 117 Jenn Lima 103 22:47.1 128 Micaela Torres 111 22:56.7 128 Elizabeth Jenkins 112 22:59.1 131 Bella Poole 114 23:00.7 138 Madison Harris 23:06.4 140 Sarah Myers 23:09.0 154 Ginelle DeMone 23:18.3 173 Mackenzie Brown 23:29.6 190 Jessica Lonas 23:48.7 193 Claire Hooker 23:54.6 211 Katie Kuhn 24:17.6 214 Kate Bernicke 24:26.6 224 Elizabeth Cobb 24:44.1 255 Eliana Karr 26:14.9
Mircheva, Barney-Led Men's Pack Shine At ACC Championships.
Men show signs of growth with fifth-place team finish.
LOUISVILLE, KY - Militsa Mircheva and the Florida State men's cross country team found validation - and success - with their performances at Friday's Atlantic Coast Conference Championships.
Mircheva backed up her three-win inaugural campaign with the Noles, placing sixth overall, while the men's team rode a strong four-man performance led by graduate transfer David Barney to a fifth-place team showing at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.
"I knew that I could be in this position, but I just needed to prove it," said Mircheva, who covered the 6,000-meter course in 20:08.9. "After today, I feel a little more confident that if I do the right things, success will come."
The junior from Bulgaria calmly put together the best ACC Championship finish by an FSU female since Colleen Quigley was runner-up in 2014.
"I was absolutely so calm, I didn't even have one-percent excitement," she said. "I was thinking, 'I'm going to have fun and do a solid workout today with some pretty good girls.'
"I went a little bit slower the first kilometer. My goal wasn't to catch the pack from the beginning, but about 1.5k I was with them already. I just stayed calm and tried to stay as strong as I can."
By executing that plan, Mircheva earned All-ACC honors. So did Barney, who was 21st overall and finished the 8,000-meter race in 24:02.1. More importantly, Barney had company from his teammates as Stanley Linton (26th, 24:05.7), Michael Hall (29th, 24:11.5) and Istvan Szogi (31st, 24:14.4) finished within 12 seconds of each other.
That pack mentality wasn't enough to reel in fourth-ranked Syracuse, which won its fifth consecutive men's title with a meager 27 points. Eleventh-ranked Virginia Tech (73 points), No. 22 NC State (98) and Virginia (100) were the only teams from the field of 15 in front of the Noles.
"That's pretty awesome," Barney said, after picking up his first All-ACC medal. "That was definitely some motivation the last 3k of the race, knowing that I was that close. My top goal coming in would have been top-10 but I knew that was going to be tough and my past two races have really been a struggle. Today I really just hoped to have a good race and I think this was a step forward; keeping the positive momentum for myself and the team going into regionals was huge."
Barney, who won All-Colonial honors at William & Mary last season, was most encouraged by the efforts of his teammates.
"I don't go into a race hoping to be our No. 1," Barney said. "I know we've got a lot of good, talented guys who have done great things in the past. I think it's the same situation for the team as it is individually. We've got so much positive momentum; the pieces are just coming together. Once we move up to 10k we're going to be a scary team. I'm pretty excited."
So is Linton, the U.S. Navy Ensign who was All-ACC in 2015 for an FSU team which advanced to the NCAA Championships and has designs on making a return trip - back at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park - with his teammates next month.
"Going into the [NCAA] postseason I think we're in a great spot given the field we were against today," said Linton, one of four grad students in the men's lineup. "The competition was pretty stout today, but we did our part. We performed and feel really good going into the regional meet. We've got plenty of things in our favor.
"We bump up to the distance we're prepared for and we are consistently getting better each week. That was our plan all along, to really be at our best at this point when it really matters."
FSU men's coach Bob Braman was encouraged by what he saw, but understands that the Noles need to get at least one more, if not two runners, with his top four at the NCAA South Region meet in two weeks.
Michael Callegari was FSU's No. 5 finisher (47th, 24:30.2) and Steven Cross was No. 6 (75th, 25:06.0).
"I think we're better than we were at Wisconsin," Braman said. "We're going to have to be better than this to make nationals. We've got to get fifth and sixth, who are very talented guys, in that pack. If we had five in that pack today I would tell you that's good enough to make it, but we didn't.
"We've got 14 days to improve and I think we could be better within that pack...There were a lot of good indicators, a lot of good pointers, but we'll have to be better. This is not good enough to get to nationals."
While the men's team made significant inroads in the postseason opener, the women struggled to rise to the occasion, beyond Mircheva and a few others.
"Militsa came in with a lot of confidence and was really relaxed," FSU women's coach Kelly Phillips said. "That's the first time I've seen her in a championship type situation where she was really relaxed and she looked great the whole race. She just looked so comfortable. Her form was phenomenal and it's the first time after a race where I've really seen her proud of herself. She was really excited."
The Seminole women, however, finished ninth for the second consecutive year; well outside what Phillips had envisioned for her squad.
"That was really disappointing," Phillips said. "I didn't see it coming because they came in with great attitudes, great spirit. The three that put it out there from early on raced well."
Freshman Jodie Judd finished 26th in her ACC Championships debut, powering home on a sore leg in 20 20:59.7. Senior Emily Edwards, a transfer from Alabama, parlayed he huge personal-best of 6,000 meters (21:19.5) into a 43rd-place finish.
Junior Sarah Candiano, one of just three Noles with ACC Championship experience, posted her best finish in three tries (66th, 21:51.9), followed by redshirt junior Forever Young (78th, 22:03.1), who was making her championship debut.
"Militsa should be up with the top girls at regionals," Phillips said. "Now we just need the rest of her team to run the same way. Jodie ran really tough and that was a huge PR for Emily. The three of those girls ran really, really well, and ran really tough. Candiano continues to get better each year and that's good for her to see."
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 6 Militsa Mircheva 6 20:08.9 26 Jodie Judd 26 20:59.7 43 Emily Edwards 41 21:19.5 66 Sarah Candiano 63 21:51.9 78 Forever Young 74 22:03.1 89 Althea Hewitt 81 22:16.6 94 Maudie Skyring 88 22:32.2 98 Megan Mooney 22:37.1 111 Fatema Jaffer 22:58.2 122 Elizabeth Jenkins 23:35.8
XC Noles Post Pair Of Strong Fourths At South Region.
Judd, Hall lead way as FSU lands five All-Region honors.
TUSCALOOSA, AL - Unfazed by the moment, Florida State freshman Jodie Judd set the tone for Friday's NCAA South Region Cross Country Championships, charging to the front from the gun at the Harry Pritchett Running Park.
Hanging on for a 10th-place finish in her first NCAA postseason foray, Judd guided the Seminole women to a fourth-place finish.
Forty minutes later, senior Michael Hall followed the same course of action, racing up to the front at the start en route to a career-best 11th-place finish as the men finished fourth.
In both cases, the fourth-place finishes left the Noles women and men two spots shy of qualifying for next week's NCAA Championships, despite arguably season-best performances from both squads.
"You always hope that you do it at the right time," FSU women's coach Kelly Phillips said. "They just really ran for each other. It was awesome and I was so excited for them. You always want to be top-two, but that was a great day for us; three spots up from a year ago when we walked away bitter.
"Now they know it's not out of their reach."
In a significant bounce-back from their ninth-place ACC Championships finish, the Seminole women rode All-Region performances from Judd and lone senior, Emily Edwards (21st), to a 129-point total which trailed only Ole Miss (59), Georgia (73) and Samford (94) in a field of 31 scoring teams. Phillips' squad came into the meet ranked fifth in the region.
Florida State men's coach Bob Braman had a similar takeaway after his fourth-ranked men posted a 128-point total, that trailed Middle Tennessee State (71), Ole Miss (76) and Alabama (95); three nationally-ranked teams. Hall was joined on the All-Region team by David Barney (17th) and Stanley Linton (24th).
"While we didn't make it to nationals, which was our goal, I still think we ran our best race of the year," Braman said. "The top three ran their best races of the year…In the end, it would have been very, very hard to be in the top two, (requiring) 75 points."
That was the mountain both teams were facing as the morning unfolded.
Phillips instructed her team to get out quickly at the start of the 6,000-meter race, and collectively they complied behind Judd's lead.
"We did that," said Judd, who finished in a personal-best 20:20.1. "It just so happened we were in the front group and once I was there, I thought, 'Well, the only way is backwards so I might as well try and stay up there as long as I can.'
"We all really wanted to run well for each other as a team. When I saw myself up there I was like, 'I've got to do it for the rest of the girls.' I think everyone felt the same way."
Edwards, the Alabama transfer running her final collegiate cross country race on familiar soil, certainly did.
"I'm so proud of us," said Edwards, who laid down a 6k career-best time of 20:38.1 and All-Region honors for the first time. "I thought coming in that the odds were kind of stacked against us, but I knew if we put our best foot forward and ran with our hearts we would do well. Every single person did that today and I could not be prouder to be a part of this team."
While Militsa Mircheva (26th, 20:45.7) was slightly off her best, Megan Mooney (31st, 20:51.6), Forever Young (46th, 21:12.1), Addi Coggins (75th, 21:35.2) and Althea Hewitt (95th, 21:51.8) all ran the fastest 6,000-meter races of their careers.
"The progress has been great," said Phillips, who had six underclassmen in the lineup. "You always want it faster, but everything is progressing really well. We have a really great young group and some people at home that can certainly help our top five, and then signing Elizabeth Funderburk, who is a difference-maker."
In contrast, Braman sent five of seven runners to the line who would be competing in their final collegiate races. Clearly, there was a sense of urgency from that veteran group.
Hall, who had finished 32nd, 31st and 30th in his three previous South Region meets - and had never dipped below 31 minutes for 10,000 meters - minimally had his eyes on All-Region honors for the first time.
"It was absolutely a goal and even a bigger goal was to not let potentially my last race leave a sour taste in my mouth," Hall said. "I wanted to go out with a bang. I didn't want to look back and say, 'I wish I would have done this or that.' I wanted to push and push and push…ultimately until I couldn't push any more. That's what I think I did today…
"Quite honestly from the start of the race, Coach Braman says to match the intensity of each race, and there was a gut feeling telling me that this race was going to go out hard and so coming off the line I just pushed out hard and went."
Hall held steady to finish in 30:58.5 - a personal-best - and has an outside shot of qualifying individually for the NCAA Championships, if Alabama gains at at-large berth.
Barney, whose best finish in three Southeast Region meets for William & Mary was 45th, settled in nicely from the start and came home with a rock-solid 17th-place finish in 31:21.2.
"You're always hungry for a little more, but from where I came from, this has definitely been my best cross country season and my best regional finish," Barney said. "Keeping it in perspective, I've got to be happy with it."
Linton, the Navy Ensign and online graduate student commuting from Iowa to meets for the Noles, turned in his finest effort of the year. The Wakulla, Fla. native finished 24th in 31:36.9, to earn All-Region honors for the second time as a Seminole after finishing 14th in 2015, when he and his teammates won the title and advanced to the championships.
"Personally, I did OK," Linton said. I probably could have done better, but I probably could have done worse…I've been progressively getting better and I was happy finishing in that top 25.
"As far as team-wise, as much as we wanted to be in that top two, the top two was really stout this year. You've kind of got to respect their resumes going in. The region has gotten a lot tougher than it has been in previous years when we've gotten through."
Junior Istvan Szogi finished 41st (32:08.9) and was followed by sophomore Steven Cross (49th, 32:14.0) to round out the scorers, after Michael Callegari pulled out past the midway point while running in the fourth spot for the Noles. Matt Magee was 97th (33:23.5) in his 10k region debut.
"Today I thought we did a pretty good job and were just not quite good enough," Braman said.
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 10 Jodie Judd 9 20:20.1 21 Emily Edwards 20 20:38.1 26 Militsa Mircheva 25 20:45.7 31 Megan Mooney 30 20:51.5 46 Forever Young 45 21:12.1 75 Addi Coggins 72 21:35.2 95 Althea Hewitt 89 21:51.8