Hurricane Women Win FGCU Cross Country Invitational
Oct. 23, 2009
Complete Results (Men) | Complete Results (Women)
FT. MYERS, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s cross country team won the inaugural FGCU Cross Country Invitational while the men’s team finished second in the last meet of the season before the Atlantic Coast Conference just eight days away.
“It was good to close out the regular season with some strong performances,” said assistant cross country coach Damon Griffiths. “To almost win both races shows how much these groups have developed this season. I feel that they are prepared to have a great ACC meet next weekend.”
In the three team meet, the Miami women took first place with a total of 24 points on the two-mile course.
For the first time this season, junior Katharine Woodard was the first Hurricane to cross the finish line with a second overall finish in a time of 11:52. Finishing fourth through seventh overall were sophomore Anna Bona (12:01.9), junior Emma Steppe (12:18.9), sophomore Janet Price (12:21.9) and sophomore Nehali Patel (12:24.5).
“Katharine really set the tone today for the women,” added Griffiths. “The women ran fantastic. They really competed and picked it up. They have continued to get better each race.”
The Hurricane men finished in a tie with Florida Gulf Coast with 28 points, but FGCU won the tie-breaker when their No. 6 runner finished higher than Miami’s.
Junior Charles Michel continued to be Miami’s top runner as the second overall finisher with a time of 16:42.8 on the 5k course. Senior Julio Bonilla and freshman Greg Kaczka placed right behind Charles in third and fourth place with times of 16:52.8 and 16:58.1 respectively.
“Charlie, Julio and Greg ran the race that we planned. It came down to a losing the tie breaker, this showed our lack of depth,” said Griffiths.
Sophomore Matthew Wilson placed eighth at 17:24.6 and freshman Reginald Buford was 11th at 17:47.1.
On Saturday, Oct. 31, the Hurricanes will return to Cary, N.C. – the site of the Great American Cross Country Festival earlier in the month – for the ACC Championships.
