Florida Gators
NCAA Pre-Nationals
Criscione Breaks School Record as Individual Perform Well at Pre-NCAA XC Invite
Saturday, October 13, 2007 | Cross Country
While the team finishes weren't as high as in past year's Florida's men's and women's cross country teams had several individuals put in quality performances at the Pre-NCAA Invitational Saturday in Terre Haute, Ind. The best performance came from junior Jeremy Criscione (Interlachen, Fla), who broke a 14-year old school record in the race.
"Individually, Jeremy was really rolling. It is great to have him back" Head Coach Jeff Pigg said. "As a team, today's race shows us that we still have some work to do. We competed well today, but our goals are different than the have been the past couple years. In the past we have been trying to beat people in this race to get points, now we are working toward running our very best in the championship part of the season. That starts in two weeks. We want to be sharp for the SEC Championship, a little better at Regionals and running our best at the NCAA Championship. I really like our state of mind right now."
Criscione ran a career-best time of 23:38.3 to break the school 8K record that had been held by Keith Brantly with a time of 23:40.7 since 1983. He finished 12th overall and lead the Gators. Senior Enoch Nadler (Keystone Heights, Fla.) was less than a second off his career-best time with a 23:47.0 in the 8K race to finish 24th. Junior Jacy Kruzel (Cooper City, Fla.) was the top Gator women's finisher in 24th place overall with a time of 20:54.1 in her first 6K race of the season. Her time was the seventh-best 6K time in school history. Finishing this high at the NCAA Championship race in November would mean All-America status for each of these three athletes.
Sophomore Sean Blaney (Kissimmee, Fla.) finished the raced in 24:26.6 to cross the line in 97th place. Sophomore Justin Taylor (St. Augustine, Fla.) was Florida's fourth finisher in 105th overall with a time of 24:32.3, a new career best. Senior Jose Garcia (Miami, Fla.) rounded out Florida's scoring five in 111th with a time of 24:35.5. In his first race back as he is recovering from a foot injury, senior Steven Hassen (Ocala, Fla.) ran a 24:48.9 to finish 127th. Senior Jeremy Miller was Florida's final finisher, just a second behind Hassen in 129th place with a time of 24:49.9.
Freshman Rebecca Lowe (Vaucluse, Australia) continued her consistency for the Gators as the second finisher in 58th place overall in 21:19.8. Senior Lindsay Sundell (Fort Salonga, N.Y.) ran the 6K race in 21:24.8 to finish 69th. Junior Sara Petrick (Apollo Beach, Fla.) was Florida's fourth finisher in 84th place with a time of 21:34.2, a new career-best 6K time. Freshman Ali Crabb (St. Petersburg, Fla.) finished just behind Petrick with a time of 21:35.4 in 87th place to finish out the Gator scorers. Junior Kathryn Kramer (Tampa, Fla.) was the sixth finisher in 105th with a time of 21:49.1. Senior Kristen Johnson (Atlanta, Ga.) was the final Gator women's finisher with a time of 22:28.9 in 157th place.
The Florida men finished 14th overall with 349 points in the white race. Every team that finished ahead of the Gators was a ranked team. No. 21 UTEP took the team title with 129 points. Josh McDougal of Liberty won the individual title with a time of 22:56.4.
The women finished 10th with 322 points, ahead of No. 28 Georgia and Baylor and Stony Brook, who were both receiving votes. No. 8 Princeton won the women's race with 149 points. Jenny Barringer from Colorado took the women's white race individual title with a time of 19:48.3.
Complete race results from both men's and women's white and blue races are available online at www.gosycamores.com.
Florida begins the championship portion of the season on October 27 as the teams head to Lexington, Ky. for the 2007 SEC Championship.
