Women Finish 11th, Men Finish 21st in NCAA Regionals

Saturday, November 14

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

TBA

University of North Florida

NCAA Regional Championships

The women tallied 335 points in their first-ever NCAA Regional Qualifier

Photo by: Michelle Bronner

11/14/2009 7:16:26 PM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

By: Andrew Hopkins, UNF Athletics

Men's Results

Women's Results

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of North Florida men's and women's cross country team finished up the 2009 season at the NCAA Regional Championships with the women finishing 11th and the men placing 21st overall in Saturday morning's meet in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

“The women ran solid, as they have all year, and didn't seem to be affected by the increase in distance from 3.1 miles to 3.7,” said head coach Mark VanAlstyne. “Most of them came through the 5k in near personal best times and continued on at the same pace.”

UNF's top finisher came on the women's side with freshman Shelby Kittrell finishing on top for the Ospreys for the sixth time this season. Kittrell was able to excel on the 6k course with a 35th place finish (21:39.22) out of a field of a 170 runners.

“Shelby ran like an experienced veteran, not getting carried away early and constantly moving up to her final place," commented VanAlstyne after the race. “I expect her to come back and compete for the win in a year or two.”

The women tallied 335 points in the regional meet, marking their first NCAA regional showing. Erin Heasley finished the race in 60th place with a time of 22:14.13.

“Erin had an outstanding race too, passing the 5k mark for a personal best and then racing hard over the final 1k to secure her spot," said VanAlstyne.

Among the other runners, freshman Meggie Emons (22:38.88) and freshman Melanie Novack (22:53.40) came in 72nd and 82nd place, respectively. Senior Hillary Adams finished her career at UNF with an 86th place finish, crossing the line at 23:01.80. Adams, being one of the pioneers of the program, helped UNF through its reclassification to Division I. She was finally able to see the fruits of her labor by competing in a NCAA Regional Championship.

“I don't think any of us would pretend to be happy with 21st , but the level of competition we saw today was something that has to be experienced, to be believed,” said VanAlstyne about the men's finish. “If you're not at your best, you can very easily slip 10 or 12 places as a team. I also think we were a little too cautious with the increase in distance from 5 to 6.2 miles.”

UNF slipped to the back of the field, recording 517 points in the 10k run at the Harry Pritchard Running Course. Junior William Pearce finished on top for the men with a 63rd place finish in a time of 32:44.00. Sammy Palmer finished second for the Ospreys with 101st place finish (33:39.65).