Florida junior cross country runners Josh Izewski and Genevieve LaCaze turned in Florida’s top finishes Saturday at the 2010 Mountain Dew Invitational, the season-opening races for Florida’s two squads, which won the team titles for the sixth straight season at the races held on the Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville.
Izewski clocked a career-best 24:39.52 in the men’s 8K to take the overall individual title, while LaCaze clocked 17:36.61 in the 5K women’s race to finish second.
Florida, the defending SEC champion and ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll, tallied 41 points to win the women’s division, 70 points ahead of runner-up Jacksonville. South Florida was third at 123, North Florida fourth at 129 and Tampa fifth at 131.
The Gators won the men’s division with 22 points. Embry-Riddle was second with 96, Florida Southern third with 125, the Florida Track Club fourth with 148 and Miami fifth with 157.
“Today was a really great start to our season,” Florida cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “We came into today with a specific race plan in mind due to the fact that we’re in a big training block of our season. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to plug in more of our girls and guys, which should amp up our lineup a bit. Genevieve (LaCaze) and Josh (Izewski) were in charge of setting the tempo for our groups today and I thought they did a great job with that. They kept our younger runners attached to the front as we got deeper into the race. Mark (Parrish) has been training great, as have all of our freshmen. He definitely put up a great first run in a Florida uniform.”
Jacksonville’s Joane Pierre won the women’s race in 17 minutes, 33.50 seconds.
LaCaze’s 17:36.61 was the best of four Florida runners who finished in the top nine. Freshman Cory McGee was sixth in 17:47.37, senior Ali Crabb seventh in 17:49.21 and sophomore Callie Cooper ninth in 17:55.69. Freshman Stephanie Strasser finished 17th in 18:28.37 to complete the Florida scoring. Sophomore Mandy Perkins was 19th (18:32.15), freshman Sarah Davis was 26th (18:44.51) and senior Alison Babb 94th (20:35.00).
In the men’s 8K, all seven Florida scorers finished in the Top 10. Sophomore Derek Wehunt was second (24:49.86) and freshman Mark Parrish fourth (24:58.34). The Gators additionally swept seventh through eleventh as seniors James Uthmeier (25:12.46), Anthony Morales (25:16.23), freshman Matt Mizereck (25:25.82), junior Danny Manco (25:27.99) and sophomore Alex Schanen (25:29.78) rounded out the next five UF finishers.
Four other runners represented Florida, including freshman Tyler Davidson and junior Michael Anderson, who hung together in 16th (25:46.99) and 17th (25:53.80). Junior Geoffrey Anderson and freshman Erick Montoya rounded out the Florida runners with times of 27:25.89 and 28:02.18, respectively.
Florida continues its cross country season Oct. 2 when it heads north to Madison, Wis., for the Wisconsin adidas Invitational.
MOUNTAIN DEW INVITATIONAL
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010 at Gainesville, Fla.
Mark Bostick Golf Course
WOMEN’S 5K
Team scores: 1. Florida 41; 2. Jacksonville 111; 3. South Florida 123; 4. North Florida 129; 5. Tampa 131; 6. Miami, Fla. 172; 7. Florida Gulf Coast 224; 8. Florida Atlantic 236; 9. Embry-Riddle 257; 10. Florida Track Club 272; 11. Palm Beach Atlantic 318; 12. Florida International 320; 13. UCF 329; 14. Florida Tech 352; 15. Saint Leo 426; 16. Webber International 440; 17. Florida A&M 463; 18. Florida Southern 508; 19. Ave Maria 533; 20. Pasco-Hernando C.C. 552; 21. Stetson 569; 22. Northwood University 703.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Joane Pierre (Jacksonville-so.) 17:33.50; 2. Genevieve LaCaze (Florida-jr.) 17:36.61; 3. Nicole Rozario (South Florida-jr.) 17:37.27; 4. Shelby Kittrell (North Florida-so.) 17:38.17; 5. Meghan Gilmore (Palm Beach Atlantic-jr.) 17:42.62; 6. Cory McGee (Florida-fr.) 17:47.37; 7. Ali Crabb (Florida-sr.) 17:49.21; 8. Rebecca Hallam (Florida Atlantic-jr.) 17:51.75; 9. Callie Cooper (Florida-so.) 17:55.69; 10. Brooke Dovell (Miami, Fla.-fr.) 17:56.11.
Florida runners: 2. Genevieve LaCaze, junior, 17:36.61; 6. Cory McGee, freshman, 17:47.37; 7. Ali Crabb, senior, 17:49.21; 9. Callie Cooper, sophomore, 17:55.69; 17. Stephanie Strasser, freshman, 18:28.37; 19. Amanda Perkins, Florida, 18:32.15; 26. Sarah Davis, freshman, 18:44.51; 94. Alison Babb, senior, 20:35.00.
MEN 8K
Team scores: 1. Florida 22; 2. Embry-Riddle 96; 3. Florida Southern 125; 4. Florida Track Club 148; 5. Miami, Fla. 157; 6. Florida Gulf Coast 175; 7. North Florida 205; 8. South Florida 206; 9. Tampa 225; 10. Florida International 231; 11. Florida Atlantic 247; 12. Florida A&M 335; 13. Florida Tech 382; 14. Webber International 402; 15. Saint Leo 463; 16. Stetson 507; 17. Palm Beach Atlantic 522; 18. Ave Maria 556; 19. Northwood University 602.
Top 10 individuals: 1. Josh Izewski (Florida-jr.) 24:39.52; 2. Derek Wehunt (Florida-so.) 24:49.86; 3. Evans Kirwa (Embry-Riddle-so.) 24:51.54; 4. Mark Parrish (Florida-fr.) 24:58.34; 5. Shuaib Winters (Florida A&M-jr.) 25:06.89; 6. Matt Hensley (Florida Track Club) 25.09.04; 7. James Uthmeier (Florida-sr.) 25:12.46; 8. Anthony Morales (Florida-sr.) 25:16.23; 9. Matt Mizereck (Florida-fr.) 25:25.82; 10. Danny Manco (Florida-jr.) 25:27.99.
Florida runners: 1. Josh Izewski, junior, 24:39.52; 2. Derek Wehunt, sophomore, 24:49.86; 4. Mark Parrish, freshman, 24:58.34; 7. James Uthmeier, senior, 25:12.46; 8. Anthony Morales, senior, 25:16.23; 9. Matt Mizereck, freshman, 25:25.82; 10. Danny Manco, junior, 25:27.99; 11. Alex Schanen, junior, 25:29.78; 16. Tyler Davidson, freshman, 25:46.99; 17. Michael Anderson, junior, 25:53.80; 59. Geofferey Anderson, junior, 27:25.89; 83. Erick Montoya, freshman, 28.02.18.