Men Win UCF Invitational, Women Take Second

Sept. 13, 2008

Men’s Results | Women’s Results

ORLANDO – For the first time this season the University of Miami cross country teams took to the road, at Saturday’s UCF Black and Gold Invitational. Senior Ryan Woodlee led the men to victory in the 8K race, as he finished first overall with a time of 27:22.71. For the second straight meet, the women’s top finisher was sophomore Emma Steppe.

Woodlee never trailed in the race as he took off to the front from the gun. All six runners for the men finished in the top-11. Senior Eric Miller was fourth, freshman Michael Viklund was sixth, while Matthew Wilson, Jules Rosen and Andrew Chuplis all crossed the finish line consecutively at ninth, 10th and 11th.

As a team, Miami finished ahead of Warner Southern, Flagler, Rollins and Bethune Cookman.

“The men went out and followed the plan,” said associate cross country coach Damon Griffiths. “It was good team performance and we have built a good base as we head into Gainesville next week.”

For the women, Steppe was the top performer for the second week in a row, with a time of 19:43.15 in the 5K event. Steppe was the fourth overall finisher and right behind her in fifth place was freshman Anna Bona, who also broke the 20 minute mark at 19:49.36.

Katharine Woodard and Monika Freiser placed in ninth and 10th respectively and Jackie Sullivan and Caitlin Knapp all finished consecutively at 12th and 13th. Freshman Page Price finished in 15th place.

The women’s team finished with a total of 40 points in their second-place finish, as UCF took first place with 19 points.

“I am pleased with the performances put on today by Emma and Anna, it was good to see the girls utilize the pack,” added Griffiths. “This race was a good stepping stone going into the next part of the season.”

Next week, the Hurricanes head to Gainesville to take part in the Mountain Dew Invitational, Saturday, Sept. 20.