Cross country runs through Malibu

On Saturday, Oct. 4 in Malibu, Ca., there was no shortage of surf, sun or challenged records.

Thanks to a little help from Pepperdine University Head Coach Bob Radnoti, both of the GCSU cross country teams started with a little cross country travel before running to participate in the Pepperdine Invitational.

The women placed first out of the three D-II schools competing and seventh overall out of 10 schools at the event. This was among a field that included several NAIA and NCAA D-I schools.
Leading the charge for the women in new school record time for the six-kilometer race, was junior Bonnie Ueltzen, finishing with a time of 24:13, which put her in fifty-second place overall. This soundly beat Ueltzen’s old school record of 24: 30, which she set at the NCAA South Regional last November.

“Bonnie keeps getting stronger as the season goes on,” Head Coach Joe Samprone said. “She keeps getting better and better.”
From the beginning of the season, Ueltzen went from being fourth on the team in a race, to third, to second for the next two races and finally first, in her record breaking run in Malibu.

Had Ueltzen not raced in Malibu she would have lost her school record, as opposed to improving it. Not one, but two other girls broke the 24:30 mark at the Pepperdine Invitational. Another junior, Heather Raines, posted a time of 24:16 and sophomore Dani Destiche came in at 24:21. Raines finished right on Ueltzen’s heels and Destiche finished two places behind Raines. The rest of the team was not far behind. Out of the D-II schools, Bobcats took second through eighth place.

Despite coming close to breaking records of their own, the men’s team placed third in the eight-kilometer race out of the three D-II schools there and ninth overall at the Invitational.
They were led once again by freshman Rob Manning, who finished in 26:49, netting him fifth place out of the D-II schools and thirty-second overall. This was just two seconds behind Rich Dobson’s record of 26:47, which he posted at the Peach Belt Conference Championships in October of 2006.

Junior Josh Hollar finished in 27:36 and freshman Colin Conroy finished in 27:55, rounding out the top three from the men’s team. The two came in eleventh and twelfth respectively among the D-II schools in attendance and fifty-first and fifty-sixth overall.

Head coach Joe Samprone talked about the various factors that go into running a good race, and the D-I competition the Bobcats faced.

“Getting better involves various courses, staying healthy and competition,” Samprone said. “Part of running is chasing someone.”

Oct. 25 is the next time the Bobcats are off to the races, when they host the Peach Belt Conference Championships on the West Campus course.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 10 2008. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry