University of North Florida
Atlantic Sun Championship
Harriers finish strong at A-Sun meet
11/1/2008 7:10:54 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
Several Ospreys finish with personal bests
MACON, Ga. - The UNF men's and women's cross country team concluded a season which has seen runners make great individual improvements by coming together as a team with great results.
The men had their best showing yet at the Atlantic Sun Championships with a fourth place finish. The women took sixth. The team did well among the 11 teams competing in the championships despite last minute setbacks like the loss of Erin Heasley, one of the women's best runners.
"We really did as well as we possibly could with the teams we had on the field, with two of our top runners not even being in the race. I am quite happy with the way things went," assistant coach Julie Stackhouse said.
The men's team had their best placement yet in the championships, led by Will Pearce with a 19th- place finish and a personal-best time of 25:49.79 for the 8k race. It was 30 seconds faster than his previous best.
Dane Simmons, who finished behind Pearce, posted his best results of the season in the last race of his career, taking 22nd with a time nearly a minute less than his previous season best (25:58.17). Just behind Simmons were the trio of Patrick Canfield, Tyler Hall and Cameron Dickerson in 26th, 27th and 28th, respectively. Hall and Dickerson improved their season best times by nearly a minute each. Also having personal bests was Marvin Moore in 40th place, a personal best placement as well as time (27:04.91). Dickerson made the Atlantic Sun Conference All-Freshman Team for his performance.
The women were led by Hillary Adams in 12th place, the highest-placing Osprey overall. Adams made the all-conference second team for her placement. The flock followed right behind her with the trio of Brooke Baumann (19:25.14, 36th), Jessica Villemaire (19:35.83, 38th) and Evelyn Moore (19:50.12, 39th). All three had season-best times, with Villemaire and Moore shaving nearly a minute off of their best times and making personal best rankings in the toughest field of the season. Kayla Conrad also ran her best race of the year, posting a time 0f 20:24.60 and a 47th-place finish.
Stackhouse said she was impressed with the improvement that the team had shown, going on to say that the team was in a year of rebuilding.
The team will hang up the running shoes until the 2009 cross country season, training and improving while bringing new talent onto the course.
