Sept. 9, 2005

Gainesville, Fla. (hurricanesports.com) – University of Miami senior Melanie Schultz (Davison, Mich.) finished second overall to lead the Hurricane women’s cross country team to a ninth-place finish at the Gator Cross Country Invitational in Gainesville, Fla.

Schultz, an All-South Region performer last season, completed the five kilometer course in a time of 17:25.92 marking a career-best over that distance. Schultz, who did not run last weekend at the Sailfish Invitational, has now been the Hurricanes’ top finisher in the last eight races in which she has competed.

Running well for the second consecutive week was freshman Melissa Hornor (Columbus, Ohio) who finished 25th in a time of 19:00.16. Hornor was Miami’s top finisher last weekend.

Miami tallied 222 points to finish ninth in the 16 team meet. Host Florida (44 points) won the team title while Allison Mascas (University of Tampa) won the individual championship posting a winning time of 17:16.62.

The UM women return to action on Friday, September 23 at the FIU Invitational.

Gator Cross Country InvitationalUniversity of Florida Golf CourseTeam Scores (Women's 5K Race)1. Florida, 442. Florida Southern, 1053. Florida Atlantic, 1064. Tampa, 1075. Florida International, 1406. North Florida, 1447. UCF, 1458. Troy State, 2089. Miami, 22210. Florida State, 22911. South Florida, 33712. Stetson, 37913. Bethune-Cookman, 40114. Saint Leo, 43015. St. Thomas, 47316. Pasco-Hernando CC, 473

Miami Finishers2. Melanie Schultz, 17:25.9225. Melissa Hornor, 19:00.1661. DeeDee Phlatts, 20:03.53100. Lia Ames, 21:29.86102. Jullian Kenney, 21:40.40106. Janal Montagna, 21:49.52119. Lindsay Rohrs, 22:19.76128. Anika Arevalo, 22:43.15