Tallahassee, FL – The third meet of the 2008 season for the Bobcats cross country teams was “another step in the right direction” according to head coach Jeff Norman.  Although the results of the FSU Invitational only officially count for the men's squad, both teams ran and showed continued improvement from their previous two contests this season. 

Pablo Gonzalez cut the most time from his previous mark, as his 36:15.06 8K run was almost four minutes faster than his time a week prior at the Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville.  Michael Jordan again had a consistent showing, with a time of 36:52.53, which was good for second fastest on the team.  Kareem George and Antonio Hurtado also finished under 40 minutes, and Ricardo Vera narrowly missed that mark with a time of 40:35.70.  The men finished with a team score of 335, with and average time of 38:02.91.

The women also posted some of their best times of the season, highlighted by Amanda Bennett, Noralis Lambert, and Koely Kempisty, who all broke 26 minutes for their 5K track, with times of 25:02.16, 25:32.27, and 25:53.95 respectively.  Monica Garcia, Stephanie Ricardo, and Jennifer Sanchez rounded out the 6 finishers for the Bobcats, who finished with a team score of 401 and an average time of 26:15.58. 

Coach Jeff Norman and assistant Sam Jacobsen were all-together “very pleased” with the week's performances, and pointed to the fact that almost everyone improved from the week before, and there were multiple individuals who posted their best times.  After a confusing and poorly marked course at UF, which allowed only three members of each team to finish without being disqualified, the Tallahassee course was “beautiful, challenging, and well marked” and provided “an all-around good race for both teams.”  The coaches believe that this is a stepping stone for future success, and that the confidence gained from these encouraging results will contribute to strong showings for the rest of the season. 

Results

Men

                                                                                                                                       Finish                                                                Time   Points
  95 Gonzalez, Pablo              St. Thomas            36:15.06   65            

 96 Jordan, Michael              St. Thomas            36:52.53   66             

 98 George, Kareem               St. Thomas            38:15.44   67             

 99 Hurtado, Antonio             St. Thomas            38:15.82   68             

100 Vera, Ricardo                St. Thomas            40:35.70   69             

Team

11 St. Thomas                  335   65   66   67   68   69                    

      Total Time:  3:10:14.55                                                    

         Average:    38:02.91           

Women

Finish                                                          Average   Time  Points

101 #1711 Bennett, Amanda        St. Thomas      8:03.5   25:02.16   76   

103 #1714 Lambert, Noralis       St. Thomas      8:13.2   25:32.27   78   

105 #1713 Kempisty, Koely        St. Thomas      8:20.2   25:53.95   80   

107 #1712 garcia, monica         St. Thomas      8:31.8   26:30.01   82   

110 #1715 Ricardo, Stephanie     St. Thomas      9:07.1   28:19.50   85   

113 #1716 sanchez, jennifer      St. Thomas      9:23.6   29:10.92   86   

Team

13 St. Thomas                  401   76   78   80   82   85   86                

      Total Time:  2:11:17.89                                                     

         Average:    26:15.58