TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Senior Charlotte Browning of England finished 77th, the best finish by any member on the Florida women’s cross country team at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships on a cloudy and windy Monday at the Lavern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course. The Gators finished 29th in the team race.
Florida was the only SEC women’s team to make the final field. The Gators’ men’s team was represented by junior Dumi Hlaselo of South Africa, who finished 171st with a time of 31:49.8 in the men’s 10K race.
“We obviously wanted to do better today, but our women’s team battled through a lot this year in terms of injuries,” head track and field and cross country coach Mike Holloway said. “I’m still proud of all the women’s team accomplished this year with winning the SEC Championship. Now we’re looking forward to what they can do for us this upcoming track season.”
Browning, a 2009 All-American and the squad’s lone senior competing at the NCAA Championship Meet, finished an impressive career as a Gator Monday with a 21:23 clocking in the 6K race. Browning won NCAA titles in the indoor mile and the outdoor 1,500 meters to become the first track distance All-American since 1997.
With only one graduating NCAA-qualifying senior on the women’s cross country squad in Browning, the future looks bright for the Gators.
“Our team has dealt with a lot of things that have gone on throughout the course of the season,” assistant track and cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “I’m still extremely proud of the team for winning the SEC and gaining an automatic NCAA Championship bid with our second-place finish at the South Region Championship. Today was not the finish that we wanted, but we’re going to regroup and put our focus towards contributing on the track this spring.”
Junior Rebecca Lowe of Australia, a 2009 All-American who ran UF’s fastest-ever 6K last season at the NCAA Championship, crossed the finish line second for the Gators (21:43.8), while freshman Cory McGee of Pass Christian, Miss., solidified UF’s third spot with a 21:53.1 race. Junior Genevieve LaCaze of Australia, a mainstay in UF’s top five scorers, ran a 22:07.5 as Florida’s fourth scorer, while freshman Stephanie Strasser of Fernandina Beach was the fifth and final points-scorer for the Orange and Blue (22:18.5)
Sophomores Mandy Perkins of Ormond Beach and Callie Cooper of St. Augustine rounded out Florida’s competitors in the women’s team race finishing 180th and 209th in the field with times of 22:33.3 and 23:49.4, respectively.
Hlaselo led the Gators all fall, finishing first in all four of his races leading up to NCAA meet: the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, the Pre-NCAA Invitational, the SEC Championship and the NCAA South Region Championship.
“Dumi had a great fall overall,” Morgan said. “We wish he had a better end to it, but we’re looking forward to his contributions this track season.”
For the Florida women, it was their fifth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance and 11th postseason appearance in the history of the women’s cross country program.
NCAA DIVISION I CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Hosted by Indiana State University / Monday, Nov. 22, 2010 / LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course at Wabash Valley Family Sports Center / Terre Haute, Ind.
WOMEN’S 6K
TEAM
Scores: 1. Villanova 120; 2. Florida State 154; 3. Texas Tech 165; 4. Georgetown 167; 5. New Mexico 227; 6. Colorado 314; 7. Stony Brook 334; 8. Iowa State 341; 9. Providence 343; 10. Syracuse 347; 11. Arizona 372; 12. Oregon 378; 13. Stanford 402; 14. North Carolina 405; 15. Princeton 411; 16. Washington 413; 17T. Duke 416 and Oklahoma State 416; 19. Boston College 432; 20. Texas 441; 21. Virginia 460; 22. Michigan 476; 23. Michigan State 481; 24. North Carolina State 487; 25. Kansas State 547; 26. Penn State 550; 27. Minnesota 555; 28. Toledo 572; 29. Florida 635; 30. Tulsa 653; 31. Rice 656.
1. Villanova (120): 1. Sheila Reid (jr) 20:07; 8. Amanda Marino (sr.) 20:27; 20. Allison Smith (sr.) 20:40; 22. Bogdana Mimic (jr.) 20:41; 69. Emily Lipari (fr.) 21:19; 201. Sarah Morrison (sr.) 23:09; 205. Callie Hogan (sr) 23:20.
2. Florida State (154): 7. Pilar McShine (sr.) 20:25; 13. Pasca Cheruiyot (sr.) 20:31; 18. Jessica Parry (so.) 20:39; 33. Jennifer Dunn (jr.) 20:54; 83. Astrid Leutert (sr.) 21:25; 100. Hannah Brooks (sr.) 21:39; 104. Amanda Winslow (so.) 21:40.
3. Texas Tech (165): 4. Rose Tanui (jr.) 20:18; 14. Winrose Karunde (sr.) 20:31; 31. Purity Biwott (jr.) 20:53; 50. Caroline Jepleting (jr.) 21:07; 66. Caroline Karunde (sr.) 21:16; 178. Michelle Guzman (sr.) 22:30; 208. Kaci Westervelt (sr.) 23:48.
29. Florida (635): 77. Charlotte Browning (sr.) 21:23; 114. Rebecca Lowe (jr.) 21:44; 129. Cory McGee (fr.) 21:54; 147. Genevieve Lacaze (jr.) 22:08; 168. Stephanie Strasser (fr.) 22:19; 180. Amanda Perkins (so.) 22:34; 209. Callie Cooper (so.) 23:50.
INDIVIDUALS
1. Sheila Reid (jr.) Villanova, 20:06.9; 2. Emily Infeld (jr.) Georgetown, 20:09.2; 3. Jordan Hasay (so.) Oregon, 20:13.0; 4. Risper Kimalyo (so.) UTEP, 20:16.1; 5. Rose Tanui (jr.) Texas Tech, 20:17.6; 6. Lucy Van Dalen (sr.) Stony Brook, 20:19.2; 7. Holly Van Dalen (sr.) Stony Brook, 20:19.3; 8. Megan Hogan (sr.) George Washington, 20:19.6; 9. Pilar McShine (sr.) Florida State, 20:24.4; 10. Amanda Marino (sr.) Villanova, 20:26.1;
11. Kendra Schaaf (jr.) North Carolina, 20:26.7; 12. Shelby Greany (so.) Providence, 20:27.2; 13. Aliphine Tuliamuk (so.) Iowa State, 20:27.6; 14. Emily Sisson (fr.) Wisconsin, 20:28.3; 15. Natalie Gray (jr.) New Mexico, 20:29.0; 16. Tonya Nero (sr.) Wichita State, 20:29.3; 17. Pasca Cheruiyot (sr.) Florida State, 20:30.7; 18. Winrose Karunde (sr.) Texas Tech, 20:31.0; 19. Alex Kosinski (sr.) Oregon, 20:32.6; 20. Alex Banfich (jr.) Princeton, 20:36.0;
21. Laura Hoer (fr.) North Carolina State, 20:36.6; 22. Jessica Parry (so.) Florida State, 20:38.3; 23. Laura Tremblay (so.) Colorado, 20:39.2; 24. Alison Smith (sr.) Villanova, 20:39.9; 25. Tara Erdmann (jr.) Loyola Marymount, 20:39.9; 26. Ari Fisher (jr.) Toledo, 20:40.4; 27. Bogdana Mimic (jr.) Villanova, 20:40.5; 28. Kristie Krueger (jr.) Georgia, 20:40.6; 29. Emily Jones (so.) Georgetown, 20:42.3; 30. Deborah Maier (jr.) California, 20:43.7.
MEN’S 10K
TEAM
Scores: 1. Oklahoma State 73; 2. Florida State 193; 3. Wisconsin 223; 4. Stanford 237; 5. Oklahoma 281; 6. Oregon 289; 7. Indiana 298; 8. Iona 303; 9. Northern Arizona 317; 10. Arkansas 329; 11. Alabama 338; 12. Princeton 351; 13. Portland 362; 14. Syracuse 365; 15. Colorado 366; 16. New Mexico 376; 17. Virginia 386; 18. Brigham Young 414; 19. William and Mary 420; 20. North Carolina State 436; 21. Duke 475; 22. Providence 510; 23. Villanova 550; 24. Richmond 554; 25. Notre Dame 571; 26. Texas 595; 27. Minnesota 608; 28. Louisville 622; 29. Georgetown 644; 30. Penn State 659; 31. California 678.
1. Oklahoma State (73): 5. Girma Mecheso (jr.) 29:48; 6. German Fernandez (jr.), 29:50; 7. Colby Lowe (jr.) 29:58; 25. Tom Farrell (fr.) 30:22; 30. Johnathan Stublaski (jr.) 30:27; 54. Joseph Manilafasha (fr.) 30:45; 137. Ryan Prentice (so.) 31:46.
2. Florida State (193): 15. Ciaran O’Lionaird (sr.) 30:14; 24. Michael Fout (jr.) 30:21; 42. David Forrester (so.) 30:39; 48. Wesley Rickman (so.) 30:41; 64. Alexander Smyth (sr.) 30:56; 98. Jakub Zivec (fr.) 31:21.
3. Wisconsin (223): 10. Mohammed Ahmed (so.) 30:04; 11. Maverick Darling (so.) 30:08; 17. Landon Peacock (sr.) 30:16; 80. Reed Connor (so) 31:08; 105. Phll Thomas (jr.) 31:26; 111. Elliot Krause (jr.) 31:31; 153. Andrew Shields (fr.) 32:02.
INDIVIDUALS
1. Samuel Chelanga (sr.) Liberty, 29:22.2; 2. Stephen Sambu (jr.) Arizona, 29:26.5; 3. Luke Puskedra (jr.) Oregon, 29:38.0; 4. Leonard Korir (jr.) Iona, 29:42.0; 5. Chris Derrick (jr.) Stanford, 29:44.7; 6. Jake Riley (jr.) Stanford, 29:45.0; 7. Girma Mecheso (jr.) Oklahoma State, 29:47.5; 8. German Fernandez (jr.) Oklahoma State, 29:49.3; 9. Colby Lowe (jr.) Oklahoma State, 29:57.6; 10. Matthew Centrowitz (jr.) Oregon, 30:01.1;
11. Dorian Ulrey (sr.) Arkansas, 30:02.0; 12. Mohammed Ahmed (so.) Wisconsin, 30:03.4; 13. Maverick Darling (so.) Wisconsin, 30:07.6; 14. Jonathan Peterson (jr.) UC Davis, 30:09.1; 15. Miles Batty (jr.) Brigham Young, 30:09.4; 16. Diego Estrada (jr.) Northern Arizona, 30:10.7; 17. Solomon Halle (so.) Arkansas, 30:13.3; 18. Ciaran O’Lionaird (sr.) Florida State, 30:14.0; 19. Ahmed Osman (jr.) Northern Arizona, 30:14.8; 20. Landon Peacock (sr.) Wisconsin, 30:15.3;
21. Brian Leung (jr.) Princeton, 30:18.3; 22. Ryan Hill (jr.) North Carolina State, 30:19.0; 23. Kevin Schwab (jr.) Oklahoma, 30:19.1; 24. Lee Carey (jr.) Providence, 30:19.9; 25. Trevor Dunbar (so.) Portland, 30:20.1; 26. Joseph Bosshard (so.) Colorado, 30:20.4; 27. Shadrack Kipchirchir (fr.) Western Kentucky, 30:20.5; 28. Michael Fout (jr.) Florida State, 30:20.9; 29. Tom Farrell (fr.) Oklahoma State, 30:21.3; 30. Jeff Thode (so.) Iowa, 30:21.4.
Others: 171. Dumisani Hlaselo (jr.) Florida, 31:49.8.