2019 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
2019 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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Rebecca Clark, Mount Dora
Ava Peeples, Dallas, Tex.
Lauren Ryan, Brighton, Australia
2019 Roster - By Name
L
T PY
R Name Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
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* Yasmine Abbes Fr Nijmegen, Netherlands (Stedelijk Gymnasium)
Kelly Aponte Sr Saint Augustine (Saint Augustine)
Riley Bahr Fr Cincinnati, Ohio (Wyoming)
Kate Bernicke Jr Avon, Ind. (Avon)
Julia Blankenbaker Jr Wesley Chapel (Wiregrass Ranch/Nova Southeastern)
Kaley Boethig So-R Punta Gorda (North Port)
Lindsay Boethig So-R Punta Gorda (North Port)
* Rebecca Clark Fr Mount Dora (The Villages)
* Addi Coggins So-R * Franklin, Tenn. (Independence)
Ashley David Fr Bloomfield Hills, Mich. (Seaholm)
Ginelle DeMone Sr Leduc, Alberta, Canada (Leduc Composite)
Kayla Easterly So-R * North Fort Myers (North Fort Myers)
* Elizabeth Funderburk So * Moultrie, Ga. (Colquitt County)
Claire Hooker Sr Fort Collins, Colo. (Fort Collins)
Elizabeth Jenkins Jr * Maitland (Winter Park)
Rachel Johnson Fr Tampa (Alonso)
* Jodie Judd Jr ** Essex, England (The King John Sixth Form)
Katie Kuhn Sr Winter Park (Winter Park)
Jenn Lima Jr * Palm Beach (East Lake)
Sarah Magee Fr Odessa (Steinbrenner)
Nicole McConnell So Coral Springs (Coral Springs)
* Megan Mooney Sr *** Thornton, Colo. (Horizon)
Sarah Myers Jr-R Ormond Beach (Seabreeze)
Maeve O'Riordan Fr Jacksonville (Bolles)
Sidney Oakes-LottridgeSo-R Fort Myers (Fort Myers)
Mo Palmer Fr Naples (Palmetto Ridge)
Sarah Parrish So Charlotte, N.C. (Providence)
* Ava Peeples Fr Dallas, Tex. (Lake Highlands)
* Erin Phelps So Tallahassee (Chiles)
Alondra Reyna-Lopez So LaBelle (LaBelle)
* Lauren Ryan Jr Brighton, Australia (Geelong Grammar/Villanova)
Abby Schrobilgen Fr Tallahassee (Chiles)
Autumn Schutt Fr-R Vero Beach (Vero Beach)
* Maudie Skyring Jr ** Wollonong, Australia (Illawarra Grammar/Wollonong)
Kaia Stevenson So Panama City (Arnold)
Ali Straumann Fr Lutz (Steinbrenner)
Ella Swigler So Lynn Haven (Mosley)
Micaela Torres Jr Tampa (King)
Ellie Wallace So-R * Bristol, England (Redland/San Francisco)
Emma Jane Warren So Fernandina Beach (Bishop Kenny)
Alesandra Wiechecki Vergara
Fr Melbourne (Holy Trinity Academy)
Mariah Zupan Jr Clearwater (Clearwater)
2019 Conference Awards
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Elizabeth Funderburk Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
Lauren Ryan Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
Maudie Skyring Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
All-Conference - 3
2019 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covered Bridge Open Boone, N.C. |
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| Alabama-Huntsville Open Huntsville, Ala. |
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| Notre Dame Invitational Notre Dame, Ind. |
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| Notre Dame Invite - Open Notre Dame, Ind. |
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| FSU Invitational | |||||
| UAB Blazer Invitational Montevallo, Ala. |
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| Pre-National Invitational Terre Haute, Ind. |
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| ACC Championship Blacksburg, Va. |
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| NCAA South Region Championship | |||||
| NCAA Championship Terre Haute, Ind. |
EOY StatsRef Overall Home Away Neutral ------------------------------------------------ FSU record is 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0
2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Results 1 North Carolina State 64 2 Florida State 76 3 Notre Dame 116 4 Virginia Tech 146 5 Syracuse 154 6 Wake Forest 158 7 Boston College 159 8 North Carolina 196 9 Duke 202 10 Georgia Tech 238 11 Virginia 276 12 Louisville 314 13 Clemson 352 14 Pittsburgh 410 15 Miami 493
2019 EOY Stats
Team Overall Name Races Top 7 Top 10 Wins =============================================== Maudie Skyring 6 6 3 0 Elizabeth Funderburk 6 6 3 0 Lauren Ryan 6 6 2 0 Addi Coggins 6 6 2 0 Megan Mooney 6 6 1 0 Rebecca Clark 6 4 2 0 Jodie Judd 5 5 1 1 Erin Phelps 5 3 3 1 Yasmine Abbes 5 3 3 0 Kayla Easterly 4 3 1 0 Ava Peeples 4 2 2 0 Ellie Wallace 3 3 1 0 Ginelle DeMone 3 2 0 0 Abby Schrobilgen 3 1 1 0 Mo Palmer 3 1 1 0 Rachel Johnson 3 1 0 0 Mariah Zupan 3 1 0 0 Nicole McConnell 3 1 0 0 Kate Bernicke 3 0 0 0 Kaley Boethig 3 0 0 0 Ashley David 3 0 0 0 Lindsay Boethig 3 0 0 0 Micaela Torres 3 0 0 0 Alesandra Wiechecki Vergara 3 0 0 0 Autumn Schutt 3 0 0 0 Kaia Stevenson 3 0 0 0 Sarah Myers 2 2 0 0 Sarah Parrish 2 1 0 0 Alondra Reyna-Lopez 2 0 0 0 Emma Jane Warren 2 0 0 0 Julia Blankenbaker 2 0 0 0 Riley Bahr 2 0 0 0 Claire Hooker 2 0 0 0 Elizabeth Jenkins 2 0 0 0 Sidney Oakes-Lottridge 2 0 0 0 Katie Kuhn 2 0 0 0 Kelly Aponte 2 0 0 0 Ella Swigler 1 0 1 0 Jenn Lima 1 0 0 0 Gabe Curtis 1 0 0 0 Sarah Magee 1 0 0 0
Noles Cruise To Victories At Covered Bridge Open.
Knevelbaard wins debut; Aussie's Ryan, Skyring pace dominant women.
BOONE, N.C. - For the third consecutive year and the 11th time in the last 20 years, the Florida State men's and women's cross country teams launched a season by sweeping the team titles at Friday's Covered Bridge Open.
The Noles were led by a pair of newcomers. Graduate transfer Kasey Knevelbaard leaned on his 1500-meter All-American speed to claim the men's title in 24:58.48 over the 8,000-meter Don Kennedy Trails at State Farm Fields. Junior transfer Lauren Ryan nipped teammate and fellow Australian Maudie Skyring, finishing 2-3 over a course which ran long at 5,200 meeters.
Neither team was seriously threatened by nine-team fields.
Florida State's 20th-ranked women were especially impressively, grabbing positions 2-6 and pushing 11 runners across the finish line in the top 15. The Noles' 20-point total was 43 points clear of runner-up East Carolina.
"They did a really nice job," women's coach Kelly Phillips said. "We looked so under control. I did not expect that many of them to be up there because I never let them go with the [High Point] girl when she went."
FSU men's coach Bob Braman was equally pleased as his makeshift lineup produced some encouraging performances by Knevelbaard's victory, cruising to a 28-49 win over runner-up host Appalachian State.
The Noles placed five in the top 10 and received breakout performances from redshirt sophomore Tyler Dau and redshirt junior Bert Freire, who finished fifth and eighth, just behind Caleb Pottorff's fourth-place finish. Redshirt freshman Jacob Holmes was 10th in his cross country debut.
"I was pretty pleased," said Braman, who raced six runners and put six others through a time trial prior to the meet. "I felt like we had really good efforts, both in the race and by the guys running around the course...
"We've kind of created a little extra depth, and that's going to be helpful as the season goes on."
Knevelbaard, who joins the Noles from Southern Utah, was poised as he ran with App State's Isaac Benz until it was time to go. He won by a comfortable eight-second margin.
"Kasey looked like the runner we knew he was," Braman said. "He just sat on the guy and kicked the App State guy down at the end."
The real surprise of the day was Dau, who was the alternate on last season's NCAA postseason roster. With just over 800 meters remaining Dau was in front of Pottorff, his All-ACC and All-Region teammate. Pottorff, the defending race champion, sped off to finish fourth in 25:34.43, with Dau right behind him in 25:36.37.
Freire, who has spent most of his career focusing on the 800-meter run in track, dipped under 26 minutes for the first time in his career (25:56.96). Holmes locked up the team win, finishing in 26:06.15.
"For Tyler Dau and Bert, that's a career Seminole-best for them," Braman said. "Caleb was solid and did his part, and that was a good, solid Seminole debut for Holmes, too."
Time-trialers Matthew Newland and Silas Griffith finished together in 25:32, followed by Harrison Martingayle (25:47), Steven Cross (26:06) and Paul Stafford (26:25); all within the top-20 times of those who raced.
Phillips' women were instructed to hit pre-determined paces and not worry about racing. They did so in the kind of dominant fashion one would expect from the only nationally ranked team in the field.
Ryan, in her first race since transferring from Villanova edged Skyring by four one-hundredths of a second for the runner-up spot behind High Point's Famke Heinst (18:00.60).
Leading a pack of five Noles, Ryan crossed in 18:02.85, followed by Skyring (18:02.89), Ellie Wallace (18:04.08), Megan Mooney (18:04.44) and Elizabeth Funderburk (18:04.95), salting away the team title.
Even more impressive was the Noles' chase pack. Addi Coggins, in her first cross country race since 2017, was ninth (18:37.63), followed by freshman Rebecca Clark in 10th (18:43.07). Close behind was another wave of Noles, claiming finishing positions 12-15. Kate Bernicke (18:49.10), Kayla Easterly (18:49.14), freshman Ava Peeples (18:50.58) and Erin Phelps (18:56.21) made up that flood of garnet jerseys across the line. Freshman Yasmine Abbes, competing in the longest distance race of her career, was 26th in 19:21.90.
"Overall, I was pleasantly surprised," Phillips said. "They all looked really good. They did the plan and ran comfortably."
WOMEN RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 2 Lauren Ryan 2 18:02.85 3 Maudie Skyring 3 18:02.89 4 Ellie Wallace 4 18:04.08 5 Megan Mooney 5 18:04.44 6 Elizabeth Funderburk 6 18:04.95 9 Addi Coggins 9 18:37.63 10 Rebecca Clark 10 18:43.07 12 Kate Bernicke 18:49.10 13 Kayla Easterly 18:49.14 14 Ava Peeples 18:50.58 15 Erin Phelps 18:56.21 26 Yasmine Abbes 19:21.90
Phelps Paces XC Noles To Victory In Huntsville.
Eight post personal-bests on day when nine make FSU debuts.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Sophomore Erin Phelps pulled away over the final mile for the first cross country victory of her running career, pacing the Florida State women to a runaway victory at Saturday's UAH Charger Open.
With five runners among the top-10 finishers the Noles totaled 24 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Union University (78 points) and the rest of the 12-team field.
Phelps, one of a handful of Noles at the meet vying for a spot on the ACC Championship roster, came into the meet with a great deal of confidence. And the Tallahassee native and Chiles High product didn't disappoint.
"I definitely felt like I would have my teammates as my competition, because they have practiced and trained well," said Phelps, who received some pre-race words of encouragement from operations assistant Alex Midgett. "Alex kind of motivated me before we started, saying that she believed that I could [win]. I definitely took that to heart and tried to live up to the expectations."
Phelps was running at the front with teammates Yasmine Abbes and Ginelle DeMone at the two-mile mark on the brand new course which was formerly the Huntsville Municipal Golf Course, when she realized the pace had slowed from the first mile.
"I looked at my watch and thought, 'Man, we slowed down. I have to pick it up,'" she said. "After that I kind of made the move and tried to make up that ground I felt that I had lost. I just kind of worked it from there."
She crossed the finish line in 17:50.51 - one of eight personal-best 5k cross country times on the day for the Noles - 21 seconds clear of freshman teammate and runner-up Abbes (18:11.73), who also recorded a personal-best.
Redshirt sophomore Kayla Easterly (18:43.33) finished fifth followed by freshman Abby Schrobilgen, another Chiles High grad, in ninth (19:05.31) and classmate Mo Palmer (19:09.72), who also joined the PB parade.
"Surprisingly there were so many PRs," said FSU coach Kelly Phillips. "It was stinking hot. I'm impressed with them. They all did a nice job. I think they all left pretty pleased with themselves. They were all really stiff because it was a long bus ride yesterday and it could have gone either way."
Race time temperatures climbed into the 80s as the morning clouds gave way to bright sun shortly after the gun sounded. The conditions were far from ideal for fast times over the rolling course, but the Noles charged on, undaunted.
Behind the front five was a four-person chase pack of Noles, all of whom recorded lifetime bests. Freshman Rachel Johnson (16th, 19:33.42) whacked more than three minutes over her previous best, with junior Mariah Zupan (17th, 19:35.89) on her heels. Zupan was nearly 80 seconds faster than her previous best.
"She's just one of those people who are pretty quiet and works hard," Phillips said of Zupan. "Those people often blend in and get missed, but she wasn't going to get missed today."
Redshirt sophomore Kaley Boethig made her FSU debut with a personal-best time of 19:36.52 to finish 19th, while freshman Ashley David was 22nd in 19:44.82 in her first 5,000-meter race. Freshman Alesandra Wiechecki-Vergara (35th, 20:18.54) rounded out the personal-best efforts.
On a day when nine of 20 Noles made their collegiate debuts, there was plenty to celebrate, and Phelps was happy to share her first win with teammates.
"It's definitely different than in track, because there are so many events and there could be other people who could have beat you but had other events to do," said Phelps, whose only two previous wins came on the track in high school. "It being cross country had a different feeling: My teammates were very encouraging afterward and it made the whole experience a full-circle thing."
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Erin Phelps 1 17:50.51 2 Yasmine Abbes 2 18:11.73 5 Kayla Easterly 4 18:43.33 9 Abby Schrobilgen 8 19:05.31 10 Mo Palmer 9 19:09.72 16 Rachel Johnson 15 19:33.42 17 Mariah Zupan 16 19:35.89 19 Kaley Boethig 19:36.52 22 Ashley David 19:44.66 23 Ginelle DeMone 19:45.97 26 Lindsay Boethig 20:03.37 29 Micaela Torres 20:09.12 30 Nicole McConnell 20:10.29 31 Sarah Parrish 20:11.60 35 Alesandra Wiechecki Vergara 20:18.54 38 Autumn Schutt 20:26.20 45 Kaia Stevenson 20:48.05 51 Alondra Reyna-Lopez 21:07.71 62 Emma Jane Warren 21:37.01 66 Julia Blankenbaker 21:52.26
Women Charge To Third At Notre Dame; Men 10th.
FSU women virtually assured trip to NCAA Championships.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The weather and course conditions were perfect and the depth of talent at Friday's Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational all but guaranteed fast times.
Rising to the occasion, the Florida State women's and men's cross country teams delivered performances well above their projected finishes, highlighted by the third-place showing by the No. 17 Noles women.
"I've got to tell you I was a little surprised," said FSU women's coach Kelly Phillips. "I wasn't expecting third, but I'll take it.
"They've been training hard and all the pieces are there, but when it's your first real race it could have gone a lot of different ways and a lot of bad. They went out a little bit harder than I would have liked, but they held it together. It was exciting to watch."
FSU's men finished 10th in the field of 22 teams, defeating No. 13 Colorado State, No. 18 Wyoming and No. 29 Alabama. Grad transfer Kasey Knevelbaard led the way, placing 19th in a personal-best 23:46.04 in his fourth competition on the 5-mile course.
The story of the day, however, was the performance of the Noles women.
Racing for the first time since Aug. 30, the FSU women took down nine nationally ranked opponents, finishing with 129 points and trailing only champion Utah (110 points) and defending NCAA champion Colorado (116). In the process the Noles defeated No. 2 New Mexico, No. 6 Washington and three-time defending ACC champions, No. 8 NC State and No. 9 Wisconsin.
They also counted victories over No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 14 Ole Miss - ranked No. 1 and one spot ahead of the Noles in the South Region - as well as No. 16 Iowa State.
"We came in ranked eighth [among teams in the field] and came away third," said junior Maudie Skyring, who finished 17th (16:41.56) over the 5,000-meter course. "We beat some very, very good teams. This was a big sort of rust-buster for us; our first race against competition. Coming out and seeing where we can be and how we placed in the nation is very exciting. We've got some very big goals now. Top 10 at nationals is definitely achievable for us.
"We're going to go home and put in a lot of work now, because everyone is going to keep getting better."
The performance all but secures the Noles a spot at the NCAA Championships as an at-large team, something Phillips didn't even consider.
"I didn't really think about that, but I'm hoping it doesn't matter," Phillips said. "Last year's goal was to get to nationals and this year's goal is to do well at nationals. They showed today that they mean it."
The Noles women are riding high after recording five of the top 15 times in the history of the program on a course they've competed on since 2000. Jodie Judd (22nd, 16:48.77), Elizabeth Funderburk (23rd, 16:49.47), Addi Coggins (33rd, 16:56.03) and Lauren Ryan (34th, 16:56.61) streamed across the finish line in a meet-best 14.4-second split between the first and fifth finishers.
FSU's first five runners recorded personal-bests for the 5,000-meter cross country distance, as did Ellie Wallace (89th, 17:27.97) and Kate Bernicke (163rd, 17:54.30).
"It was a lot of fun," said Coggins, a redshirt sophomore. "We haven't raced in over a month. We knew we had really good potential and kind of wanted to see where we stacked up with all the other teams. I think we did really well.
"We have really big goals, so to have that confidence and have our top five go under 17 [minutes] shows that we can do what we think we can and kind of gives us a nice little confidence boost moving forward."
Knevelbaard, who was sixth at the meet in 2017 (23:58.5) while running for Southern Utah, was encouraged by the effort put forth by the Noles men.
"For a lot of us it's just the biggest competition of the season so far," he said. "Every races gets a little more important, so if we can just stick our feet in the water and see how it feels, we've got a lot of time and a lot of finish to go.
"For me personally, I've got a lot of fitness to make up and the fact that I'm 15 seconds faster than I have been in the past…I'm feeling a little bit behind and I know I've got a lot of room to grow. It gives me confidence, mixing it up with the top guys here. It's definitely a good stepping stone for us."
Sophomore Paul Stafford was FSU's second finisher, placing 41st (24:10.41), just one spot but 40 seconds faster than his freshman season effort on Notre Dame's Burke Golf Course.
"You can't complain with a 40 second improvement," Stafford said. "Today was definitely the first time that I 100-percent bought-in and just accepted the fact that it was going to hurt; just accepted the game plan Coach Braman gave us.
"I was definitely hurting between miles two and three, but when I got there I knew it was all downhill to the finish."
Six of seven Noles recorded 5-mile cross country personal bests as the team's 24:15 average was the program's fourth-fastest at Notre Dame in their last eight appearances.
Senior Steven Cross (59th, 24:18.23), Caleb Pottorff (70th, 24:26.10) and Silas Griffth (74th, 24:30.29) joined the personal-best parade. Matthew Newland was the Noles' No. 5 finisher (125th, 25:07.7), followed by Tyler Dau (135th, PB 25:21.45) and Jacob Holmes (145th, 25:28.57).
"I thought we ran pretty tough," FSU men's coach Bob Braman said. "We had some challenges and we responded to them. I thought we ran pretty well. We were probably the 14th or 15th team coming in and got 10th place. I like where we are now compared to last year.
"I don't know if we got any at-large points, but we beat some good teams. Our fifth guy was 24:30 and it's kind of hard to be upset about that. We've got to get better. We're going to have to better than we were last year to make nationals."
"Anytime you beat a team like NC State or Washington, teams that are ranked really high, it's exciting," Phillips said. "Like many people say, ... 'It doesn't matter until it really matters.' Yeah, we can walk away and be really excited, but we've got work to do.
"It's going to matter that we do well at Terre Haute in two weeks, and ACCs, but they showed today that they want to be good. That's the important part."
In addition to those competing in the Blue Division (elite) races, a pair of FSU women also shined in the open division competition. Freshman Rebecca Clark placed fourth overall in a personal-best time of 17:22.42, while classmate Ava Peeples was eighth in 17:35.75.
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 17 Maudie Skyring 17 16:41.56 22 Jodie Judd 22 16:48.77 23 Elizabeth Funderburk 23 16:49.47 33 Addi Coggins 33 16:56.03 34 Lauren Ryan 34 16:56.61 63 Megan Mooney 63 17:13.60 89 Ellie Wallace 88 17:27.97 136 Kate Bernicke 17:54.30
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 4 Rebecca Clark 17:22.42 8 Ava Peeples 17:33.75
Noles Women Pile Up PBs At FSU Invitational.
Holmes paces men; Phelps fifth to lead second-place FSU women.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A rare cool morning provided the perfect backdrop for Friday's start of the two-day FSU Cross Country Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park and the collegians took full advantage.
Finishing second overall against a field of 24 scoring teams, the Florida State had four of the top 17 finishers. Fifth-place sophomore Erin Phelps ran a personal-best 5,000-meter time of 17:49.2 to lead the way.
Freshman Yasmine Abbes finished 10th (18:02.3) and was followed by Kayla Easterly (14th, 18:10.10) and Ginelle DeMone (17th, 18:12.8). Sarah Myers rounded out the fifth scoring position in 29th (18:29.7). Abbes, DeMone and Myers joined Phelps on a day filled with personal-best performances by the Noles.
Florida won the team title with 29 points, led by individual winner Jessica Pascoe (17:20.1), with the Noles totaling 63 points. Tampa was third (127), taking home top honors among non-Division I schools.
FSU's women, who raced without the assistance of the top seven headed to Pre-Nationals last weekend, racked up 11 lifetime-best times on the day. That doesn't include sophomore Ella Swigler, who finished third overall while competing unattached (17:46.98).
Among the others breaking through were Sarah Parrish (18:48.8), Nicole McConnell (18:58.1), Rachel Johnson (19:09.5), Ashley David (19:13.0), Kaley Boethig (19:16.4), Mariah Zupan (19:23.6) and Lindsay Boethig (19:48.4).
Like the women, the Seminole men held out their top seven in preparation for next week, and as a result did not field a scoring team.
Jacob Holmes was the first Nole in uniform across the finish line, placing 11th in 25:10.3 over the 8,000-meter course. Micah Hilliard was 84th in the field of 204 finishers (27:10.2).
Florida State graduate student David Barney, who ran for the Noles and remains active in the program, won the individual title in 24:37.1. Florida claimed the team title, edging North Florida 34-37. Embry-Riddle was the top-finishing non-Division I team.
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 3 Ella Swigler 17:46.8 5 Erin Phelps 4 17:49.2 10 Yasmine Abbes 9 18:02.3 11 Jenn Lima 18:05.4 14 Kayla Easterly 11 18:10.1 17 Ginelle DeMone 14 18:12.8 26 Gabe Curtis 25:46.1 29 Sarah Myers 25 18:29.7 40 Sarah Parrish 33 18:48.8 46 Nicole McConnell 39 18:58.1 49 Abby Schrobilgen 19:03.7 51 Rachel Johnson 19:09.5 53 Riley Bahr 19:10.2 54 Ashley David 19:13.0 55 Mo Palmer 19:14.3 57 Kaley Boethig 19:16.4 65 Mariah Zupan 19:23.6 77 Micaela Torres 19:45.3 81 Lindsay Boethig 19:48.4 86 Claire Hooker 19:55.2 91 Elizabeth Jenkins 19:59.6 95 Sidney Oakes-Lottridge 20:02.8 103 Autumn Schutt 20:07.0 107 Alondra Reyna-Lopez 20:10.6 108 Alesandra Wiechecki Vergara 20:12.8 112 Katie Kuhn 20:16.4 124 Kelly Aponte 20:33.5 125 Kaia Stevenson 20:33.9 138 Emma Jane Warren 21:05.5 147 Julia Blankenbaker 21:22.0 152 Sarah Magee 21:30.7
Noles Crush Winning Effort At UAB Blazer Classic.
Judd wins to lead way as FSU tops 15 Division I opponents.
MONTEVALLO, Ala. - Just a week after turning in an impressive effort on their home course, the Florida State women's cross country team took their performance to a new level on the road Friday at the UAB Blazer Classic.
Competing over 6,000 meters for the first time this season against a field of 24 scoring teams - including 16 NCAA Division I schools - the Seminoles ran away with the team title. Jody Judd was the individual champion, pulling away over the second half of the race to win in 20:36.17 for a 13-second victory.
Judd was one of four Noles in the top six, chased across the finish line by freshman Yasmine Abbes (fourth, 20:56.40), sophomore Erin Phelps (fifth, 20:58.86) and freshman Ava Peeples (sixth, 21:04.37). Redshirt sophomore Kayla Easterly (16th, 21:25.14) rounded out the scoring Noles, whose 32-point team total was 62 points better than runner-up Southern Miss (94 points).
The Noles sent 27 runners to the starting line and came away with more than 20 personal-best times over 6,000 meters; some of whom were racing the distance for the very first time."
"It felt like they were taking it as a championship race," said FSU operations assistant Alex Midget, who accompanied the team to the meet for the second consecutive year. "Everyone was all-in and focused. They gave it their all and treated it like it was their ACC Championship.
"For us to go from fourth last year to first this year was amazing."
Judd, a junior, narrowly missed her personal-best (20:20), but the next 15 Noles across the finish line didn't. Abbes and Peeples were competing in their first 6k races, while Phelps was 1:45 faster than her previous best, which she set on the same course with a 36th-place finish a year ago.
Among the other major breakthroughs on the hilly trek were Ginelle DeMone (32nd, 22:42.41), Sarah Myers (34th, 21:43.04), Kate Bernicke (22:09.43) and Mariah Zupan (23:01.23).
In all, 10 of the 14 Noles who had previously completed a 6k collegiate cross country race, recorded personal-bests. And half of those - Easterly, Phelps, Zupan, Sidney Oakes-Lottridge (23:26.95) and DeMone - improved their previous-bests by more than 90 seconds.
Preceding Zupan across the finish line were a string of four freshmen - Mo Palmer (22:18.97), Abby Schrobilgen (22:23.31), Riley Bahr (22:46.02) and Ashley David (22:48.03) - who were among 13 in the lineup competing over 6,000 meters for the first time.
The performance capped an outstanding season for most of the group, though several individuals have positioned themselves for a spot on the ACC Championships roster in two weeks.
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Jodie Judd 1 20:36.17 4 Yasmine Abbes 4 20:56.40 5 Erin Phelps 5 20:58.86 6 Ava Peeples 6 21:04.37 16 Kayla Easterly 16 21:25.14 32 Ginelle DeMone 32 21:42.41 34 Sarah Myers 33 21:43.04 60 Kate Bernicke 22:09.43 64 Mo Palmer 22:18.97 69 Abby Schrobilgen 22:23.31 85 Riley Bahr 22:46.02 87 Ashley David 22:48.03 97 Mariah Zupan 23:01.23 102 Kaley Boethig 23:04.42 105 Nicole McConnell 23:07.66 107 Rachel Johnson 23:11.92 117 Claire Hooker 23:26.94 118 Sidney Oakes-Lottridge 23:26.95 127 Lindsay Boethig 23:37.59 128 Micaela Torres 23:37.97 140 Autumn Schutt 23:59.40 141 Kelly Aponte 24:04.29 142 Alesandra Wiechecki Vergara 24:06.54 144 Elizabeth Jenkins 24:10.17 154 Katie Kuhn 24:24.15 160 Kaia Stevenson 24:34.89
Pre-Nats Performances Send Noles Into Postseason Confident.
Women fifth, men sixth against deep fields at LaVern Gibson Championship
Course.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - With Elizabeth Funderburk and Kasey Knevelbaard delivering the low sticks, the Florida State cross country teams came away from Saturday's Under Armour Pre-National races with strong set-up performances heading into the ACC Championships.
Funderburk finished 11th overall against a field of more than 250 runners, finishing her first 6,000-meter race of the season in 20:29.1, to lead a fifth-place finish for the FSU women. The Noles came into the meet tied for No. 11 in the national rankings and vanquished five ranked teams, including Boise State, with whom they shared the No. 11 ranking. The Broncos finished 12 in the 37-team field.
Racing most of the way with a sizzling lead pack of 20, Knevelbaard finished 15th overall in the 8,000-meter trip around the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, cross under the finish arch in 23:47.3. A tight pack of four Noles finished within six seconds of each other, delivering the FSU men a sixth-place finish which included victories over four nationally squads.
FSU's men came into the meet tied for No. 30 nationally and posted wins over No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 15 Indiana, No. 27 Arkansas and No. 29 Virginia Tech.
Caleb Pottorff led the Noles' chase pack in 50th place (24:27.0) and was followed by Silas Griffth (59th, 24:30.5), Steven Cross (61st, 24:31.9) and Paul Stafford (65th, 24:33.2).
"We came here and put another strong, committed, mental effort together," said men's coach Bob Braman. "They were committed to each other, running in a pack. 'How long has it been since we've seen that?' A long time.
"I'm really happy with it and proud of the guys. They competed well."
So too did coach Kelly Phillips' women, who finished with 204 points and trailed only No. 8 Washington (84 points), No. 2 BYU (87), No. 3 Colorado (126) and No. 7 Michigan (164).
"I was most encouraged that we didn't get beat by anybody, but we didn't surprise anybody either," Phillips said. "It was a solid day. It wasn't super sexy but it was good. There are a lot of pieces that can do better, but we didn't do anything to spoil it. The top five did their job."
Redshirt sophomore Addi Coggins was the Noles' second finisher, placing 26th in 20:41.8, followed by junior Maudie Skyring (36th, 20:44.9), senior Megan Mooney (57th, 20:59.9) and freshman Rebecca Clark (79th, 21:14.4).
"That was probably the best Funderburk has ever gotten out," Phillips said. "Maudie got out well and struggled a bit in the middle. Addie moved through the pack really, really well.
"Rebecca Clark, I told her it was her first big-girl race, and she did not run like a freshman. She ran like an athlete that was here to compete."
Funderburk, a sophomore, established herself as a contender for postseason honors with a performance that went exactly as she had hoped. In the first 6k race of the season for the women, she became the third different Nole to finish in the top spot on the team, joining Lauren Ryan and Maudie Skyring.
"It was really fun being in that front back, which was my plan," said the Moultrie, Ga. native. "I just wanted to stay with them as long as I could...It went pretty fast. I went through the 5k under 17-flat. This gave me a lot of confidence going into these next two meets; ACCs and Regionals. Going under 20:30 gives me confidence that I can go out faster and hang on."
Knevelbaard, a graduate transfer from Southern Utah, was encouraged by his progress since placing 19th at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago.
"I just wanted to put myself there with the top guys and be a contender," Knevelbaard said. "There were a lot of really good people in the race and I just wanted to hang in there as long as I could. I think it was good progress from Notre Dame...Fifteenth-place here is a good step up from Notre Dame, running about the same time on a harder course."
And while he is the undisputed low stick on the team this season, he was even more encouraged to see his teammates packing up behind him to aid the team effort.
"This was a pretty deep race and pretty top heavy as well," he added. "I think this is a testament to how consistent we've been in workouts and how we work out together as a pack. It was awesome."
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 11 Elizabeth Funderburk 10 20:29.0 26 Addi Coggins 25 20:41.8 36 Maudie Skyring 35 20:44.9 57 Megan Mooney 56 20:59.9 79 Rebecca Clark 78 21:14.4 88 Lauren Ryan 87 21:22.1 131 Ellie Wallace 130 21:45.3
Women Second At ACC Championships, Men Finish Sixth.
Best finish for Noles women since 2013; teams combine for five All-ACC honors.
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Behind a trio of top-10 finishers the 10th-ranked Florida State women's team posted the best ACC Championships finish for the program since their 2013 title, placing second Friday morning at the cold, muddy and wind-swept Buford Meredith Cross Country Course.
With junior Lauren Ryan (sixth), sophomore Elizabeth Funderburk (eighth) and junior Maudie Skyring (10th) leading the way - and earning All-ACC honors - the Noles pushed No. 6 NC State to the wire, with the Wolfpack prevailing 64-76 for their fourth consecutive title.
"I think they had a great day," said fifth-year FSU coach Kelly Phillips. "We weren't supposed to beat NC State. I thought we could and I still think we had a legitimate shot, but they had a good day as well."
The No. 21 Florida State men finished sixth in the 15-team field with grad transfer Kasey Knevelbaard (13th) and sophomore Paul Stafford (17th) turning in All-ACC performances to lead the way. The Noles weren't especially sharp, but their performance was further hindered when Knevelbaard, expected to contend for the individual titles, fell in the first mile of the race and expended a great deal of energy to get back in the mix.
"The main problem for us was I trained us more for regionals and nationals," veteran FSU coach Bob Braman said. "Physically we weren't sharp and that's on me. We trained really hard last week, thinking about nationals and the guys just weren't as sharp as they were two weeks ago.
"I do know that having Kasey goes down hurts you points-wise, but it hurts you emotionally to see your leader go down early in the race as you try to work your way through."
Knevelbaard was running in the front pack when he went down and had trouble getting back on his feet in the field of 134 runners. He was 71st at the mile but climbed all the way to 14th at the 6,000-meter split.
Virginia Tech's Peter Seufer, whom Knevelbaard beat twice during the regular season, successfully defended his title, winning in 23:42.7, Knevelebaard cross the finish line in 24:45.9.
Stafford, who finished 64th as a freshman, stayed in the chase pack from the start and cruised home in 24:51.1.
"It was a great race for Paul Stafford," Braman said. "Other guys like Steven Cross hung in there and fought through. We've got some work to do. We're glad to be going home about the same as we were last year, but really, they weren't sharp and that's on me."
Syracuse edged Notre Dame 68-73 for the team title. Virginia Tech and Virginia totaled 100 points and Wake Forest with fifth with 116 points. The Noles finished with 155 points with senior Steven Cross matching his career-best finish at the meet in 31st place, holding down the third position. Silas Griffith was 39th.
There were no shortage of strong performances for the Seminole women.
Ryan, who hadn't finished in the top spot on the team since the opener, teamed up with Funderburk and Jodie Judd early on, setting the tone for the title contenders.
A transfer from Villanova, where she was sixth as a freshman at the Big East Championships, Ryan and Funderburk traded places throughout the race.
"I sat in a good position the whole race and I was working well with my teammates, Elizabeth and Jodie, at most points during the race," said Ryan. "I was really disappointed with my last performance. I just got in my head mentally. This whole week I've just tried to treat this as a workout. In workouts I'm working with my teammates and I know that my training is there and I'm fit.
"It was just about executing in the race and it worked well being more relaxed and taking it as a workout. I got on the start, put myself in a lot better position than the last time and pulled through with sixth. Happy days."
Funderburk improved seven spots from her 15th-place finish in 2018.
"It was nice having Lauren right there with me," she said. "We were kind of going back and forth. It helped us both finish strong. I was happy with eighth place."
Skyring, took a different route to her first All-ACC honor. Traditionally a fast starter, the junior was running in 35th-place at the mile along with teammates Megan Mooney and Addi Coggins, before turning things up.
"I went out a little bit slower - not that it was completely planned - but it gave me a lot of confidence at the end of the race," she said. "I was catching people the whole way; caught a lot of people the last [kilometer]. I was very motivated. It made me push through the hills. It was a fun way to race. It definitely feels a lot better than being caught."
The 10th-place showing was quite an improvement for Skyring, who was 94th as a freshman and 34th last year.
Judd and Mooney also posted career-best ACC Championship finishes, placing 23rd and 29th, respectively.
That has been a common progression under Phillips, who is now in her fifth season and has followed back-to-back ninth-place finishes by improving on last year's fourth-place showing with a runner-up finish.
"Having the depth has really been fun," said Phillips, who had eight Noles finish among the top 41 finishers. "They are a really good group. They just train really well together. The culture is really good. When the culture is good it makes the coach's job easy. They get each other going."
Coggins (37th) and freshmen Ava Peeples (40th), Rebecca Clark (41st) and Yasmine Abbes (68), along with sophomore Erin Phelps (72nd), rounded out the Noles' 10 entries.
And it was nearly enough to deliver the eighth title in program history.
"We really wanted to get out there today and win," said Skyring. "We didn't get that, unfortunately, but we're all really happy with our performance and how we ran as a team.
"Our goal this season has been to perform well at nationals. This is something we did care about, but our ultimate goal has been the end of the season, so this performance definitely shows that we can do what we want to do."
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 6 Lauren Ryan 6 21:00.9 8 Elizabeth Funderburk 8 21:03.0 10 Maudie Skyring 10 21:04.6 23 Jodie Judd 23 21:31.0 29 Megan Mooney 29 21:38.7 37 Addi Coggins 37 21:42.7 40 Ava Peeples 39 21:49.4 41 Rebecca Clark 21:52.9 68 Yasmine Abbes 22:24.2 72 Erin Phelps 22:30.7
FSU Women Romp To Region Title; Men Finish Fourth.
Six women, two men earn All-Region honors; men await at-large news.
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida State women's cross country team is heading back to the NCAA Championships in style.
The No. 12 Noles won their second consecutive NCAA South Region title in style on a cool and damp Friday morning at Apalachee Regional Park. Six Noles earned All-Region honors, led by the top-10 trio of Maudie Skyring (fourth), Elizabeth Funderburk (sixth) and Addi Coggins (seventh), as FSU finished with 42 points and a 58-point margin of victory over runner-up and No. 27 Ole Miss.
It is the second-largest margin of victory in the program's history of eight region titles; the bi-product of a nearly perfectly executed race plan.
"The plan was to pack up, which they did early," said fifth-year coach Kelly Phillips. "I was pretty pleased with that. Megan Mooney hasn't been feeling well the past two days and you could tell she was a bit off, but the good part is when you have a team that's deep it's OK for someone to fall off, because they have back-ups. They executed very well."
So well that their 42-point total was the lowest winning score since 2013, when the Noles finished with 35 points and beat runner-up Vanderbilt by a whopping 81-point margin.
"I didn't think we'd be able to have a score that low," Phillips said, after her team secured the 13th NCAA Championships berth in program history, all since 2002. "I knew they were ready to run fast and it's their home course and were excited about it. I was a little surprised it was as low as it was."
Skyring, a junior, led the charge by finishing the 6,000-meter race in 20:21.8, with Funderburk (20:26.1) and Coggins (20:31.7), both sophomores, close behind.
The deciding factor, however, was the supporting cast. Junior Jodie Judd earned her third All-Region honor, placing 12th (20:35.4) with junior transfer Lauren Ryan (15th, 20:38.6) and freshman Rebecca Clark (22nd, 20:42.6) also earning All-Region honors.
Mooney was 30th in 21:03.9, three seconds faster than she was on the same course in 2018 when she placed 18th.
"We looked up at the scoreboard and said, 'Oh, wow. We won,'" Skyring said. "It was very exciting to see how well we did and shows the depth that we have in the program right now. It's very exciting considering the history FSU has and what great teams there have been."
The six All-Region honors are the most for the Noles since the 2012 team, which finished second at the NCAA Championships, landed seven honors.
"We really wanted to really work and stay together as a team, practicing what we're going to put into practice at nationals," Skyring said. "After today we have a lot of confidence. We had six All-Region, which was really impressive.
"Going into next week we have all the confidence we need to achieve our main goal this season, which is to be top-10 in the nation."
While the women were romping to victory, the Seminole men had their hands full against a field which included No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 15 Middle Tennessee State and No. 28 Alabama.
Redshirt sophomore Caleb Pottorff led the way, placing 15th overall in the 10,000-meter field (30:46.4) and was joined on the All-Region team by senior Steven Cross (25th, 31:06.4).
Their efforts not withstanding led the Noles to a 136-point total and a fourth-place finish, behind the ranked trio. Ole Miss won their fourth title in six years - all at Apalachee Regional Park - with 69 points. Middle Tennessee (83) and Alabama (97) were close behind.
"I was happy to do something for the team and be who I was supposed to be and expected to be all year, but at the same time it's frustrating," said Pottorff. "I feel like it's not enough, because we're still not sure where we're going to be."
Coach Bob Braman's team must now await Saturday's NCAA Championship field reveal to learn whether they received one of 13 at-large berths.
"The guys were too hyped up," said Braman. "They went out way too fast and paid the price. We've got to keep our composure better if we're going to be a Top 10 National level program in cross country."
Redshirt freshman Jacob Holmes (29th, 31:16.6) turned in his finest performance of the season to place third on the team, just ahead of Kasey Knevelbaard (34th, 31:25.1) and Silas Griffith (35th, 31:26.1), who rounded out the scorers.
Paul Stafford (37th, 31:27.1) and Matthew Newland (75th, 32:17.6) rounded out the FSU lineup.
"We have an outside chance at an at-large berth," Braman said. "I hope the guys get one more chance. They're certainly fit enough to race next week."
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 4 Maudie Skyring 4 20:21.8 6 Elizabeth Funderburk 6 20:26.1 7 Addi Coggins 7 20:31.7 12 Jodie Judd 11 20:35.4 15 Lauren Ryan 14 20:38.6 22 Rebecca Clark 21 20:42.6 30 Megan Mooney 29 21:03.9
Judd, Stafford Pace Improved NCAA Championship Finishes.
Women place 12th, men 29th in miserable race conditions.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - A cross country season filled with bright spots came to a close at Saturday's NCAA Championships in the rain, mud and near freezing temperatures at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, with Florida State's women and men improving on their 2018 finishes.
The ninth-ranked women placed 12th in the field of 31 team, just 14 points shy of their coveted top-10 finish. Still, it marked a 14-place improvement from last season by a team that will return six of its seven finishers.
The Seminole men, who nabbed the final at-large spot to return to the NCAA Championships for the 14th time in 17 years, finished 29th overall. Sophomore Paul Stafford led the way, placing 71st in the 10,000-meter race (31:41.1); a 122-place improvement on his 2018 performance.
"We wanted a top-eight, but the reality of it is we were coming from 26th," fifth-year women's coach Kelly Phillips said. "It was a huge jump and an awesome season. It's going to be a hard season to repeat because it was such a fun season.
"They all ran solid, but other than Jodie Judd and Rebecca Clark, nobody was amazing."
Judd became the fifth different runner to lead the Noles in six major races this season, placing 62nd overall in the 6,000-meter race. The junior crossed the finish line in 21:01.5 on a day when the weather conditions clearly impacted the racing.
Close behind were junior Maudie Skyring (69th, 21:04.5) and freshman Rebecca Clark (76th, 21:06.6), who authored her second consecutive breakthrough performance. Clark was the eighth freshman in the entire field.
Sophomore Elizabeth Funderburk (101st, 21:16.5) and redshirt sophomore Addi Coggins (112th, 21:19.4) rounded out the scoring five, separated by only 18 seconds. Junior Lauren Ryan (114th, 21:20.0) and senior Megan Mooney (121st, 21:38.8) accounted for the final finishing positions.
Despite the tightly-packed finish and a hard charge over the final 4,000 meters, the Noles could not quite overcome a slow start. FSU moved up from 15th place after 2,000 meters but could not climb further up the standings, despite continuing to pick off runners through the finish.
"Going out it felt like a really fast pace," Skyring said. "My legs were super cold and it did not feel good. I knew I just had to work my way up. I really had no idea where I was in the race. It was so chaotic…I'm very disappointed. It's not what I wanted."
Phillips, however, was not disappointed.
"Funderburk and Skyring didn't have the races they've had all year, and that hurt a little bit, but Jodie had a better race than she's had," she said, as did Clark. "So it went both ways."
Stafford saved the day for the Noles men, who were trying to avoid a second consecutive 31st-place showing. He was 102 spots in front of his nearest teammate, Kasey Knevelbaard (173rd, 32:37.5). Steven Cross (179th, 32:43.7), Silas Griffith (204th, 33:03.8) and Caleb Pottorff (207th, 33:14.3) accounted for the rest of the scoring five. Jacob Holmes (216th, 33: 33.7) and Matthew Newland (234th, 34:13.0) rounded out the lineup.
"You look at it in retrospect and if we were a little bit tougher we're probably 25th," Braman said. "But we were picked for 31 and we didn't get 31, so that was something.
"Paul gets the credit for that. He ran really, really well. When your guy who runs No. 6 at the region meet gets 71st place you start thinking, 'What are we maxed out capable of?' Well, if they all run with Paul we're probably top-10."
Stafford positioned himself well in the first half of the race and moved through the pack well over the second half.
"It was just a matter of feeling as relaxed as you could through 5k," said Stafford, whose goal was to finish in the top 100. "There were a lot of bodies around; definitely more than you're ever used to. It was just taking advantage of those, then seeing those dead bodies come back to you the last 5k of the race and just latching on to a pack.
"I don't remember what [kilometer] mark it was, but coach just yelled at me, '67, 67' and 30 yards later I see Trevor [Dunbar] and he's yelling, '99.' He was just trying to get me going, but it really helped."
Braman
summed up the day this way:
"The story is, these are the most miserable conditions I've ever been at because there's all the elements - cold, rain and mud - and there's no way for a Tallahassee
team to prepare for that. That shows you how good the women's team is; how well they did under those equally horrid conditions.
"The fun side of this is we're really looking forward to two years from now."
Florida State will host the 2021 NCAA Championships at Apalachee Regional Park.
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 62 Jodie Judd 45 21:01.5 69 Maudie Skyring 50 21:04.5 76 Rebecca Clark 56 21:06.6 101 Elizabeth Funderburk 74 21:16.5 112 Addi Coggins 83 21:19.4 114 Lauren Ryan 84 21:19.9 154 Megan Mooney 121 21:38.8