University of North Florida
Atlantic Sun Championships
Cross Country Prepared For A-Sun Championships
10/29/2009 4:10:48 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country
The women will start their 5k run at 8:45 a.m. followed by the men's 8k run at 9:45 a.m. This will be the second time that Stetson has hosted the A-Sun Championships.
“We've thought about and prepared for this meet for months,” said head coach Mark VanAlstyne. “So for it to finally be here is very exciting for all of us. Our preparations have gone well and we are, for the most part, healthy. We have a few little nagging injuries, but that's a part of the game at this level.”
The Ospreys' men and the women were recently ranked fourth in the Atlantic Sun standings going into this weekend, which was voted on earlier by the head coaches of each affiliated A-Sun school.
“Both teams know the kind of race they need to execute in order to win and they're confident in their ability to do so,” commented VanAlstyne. “On paper, both races look as though they're going to be extremely close so we'll just need to be tougher than every one else down the stretch, especially with the heat and humidity we're forecasted to have on Saturday.”
This will be the fifth year the Ospreys have competed in the A-Sun Championships. The men had a fourth place finish in last year's race. The women have consistently been in the top four since UNF's reclassification into DI despite having their lowest finish last year in the conference. The women recorded their best finish for UNF cross country in 2006 with a second place finish in the A-Sun.
The top finisher for the men at last years' A-Sun Championship was junior William Pearce while senior Hillary Adams had the best finish for the women. Pearce was able to lead the men with a 19th place finish in 25:49.79. The men's team had three runners within 30 seconds of each other helping the men to their best A-Sun finish. Adams was able to place 12th for the women with a time of 18:36.61 at Mercer's home course in
This years' A-Sun Championship will be run on the same course the Ospreys' women recorded its first place finish and the men's third place finish two weeks ago. The victory led to the women being ranked 10th in their first-ever regional ranking at Division I.
Freshman Shelby Kittrell led the Ospreys to their first win of the season, finishing third individually out of the 174 runners. Sophomore Erin Heasely, Adams and freshman Meggie Emons finished eighth, 12th and 14th, respectively.
For the men sophomore Johnathan Esteban reeled in fifth place out of the 141 runners with a time of 26:15 and sophomore Josh Brown placed 10th for his best finish this season.
Travel Squad for Saturday's A-Sun Championships:
Women
Erin Heasley
Mel Novack
Men
Sammy Palmer
