UT Among Top Teams at Crowded Disney Invite
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The University of Tampa men's and women's cross country teams were among several collegiate teams competing at the 2008 Disney Classic as both teams finished in the top 10. The Spartan women finished fourth of 44 teams while the men were ninth in the field of 38 schools.
Tampa's women finished with 164 points as Alabama-Birmingham won the race. Windsor (Ont.) and South Florida took the second and third spots respectively as Houston was fifth.
Jessica Forrester once again paced the UT women, finishing 11th overall as 353 women competed. Forrester finished in 18:10.10. Alysha Duffy also finished in the top 20 with an 18th place time of 18:27.90.
Tampa's top five also consisted of Michelle Gabrielle (41st), Katie O'Brien (47th) and Dara Fox (54th). Sarah Nelson (57th), Heather Nicolosi (101st), Leela Hadsock (131st), Dayle VanEss (137th), Kathryn Cummins (182nd) and Amber Eisenberg (183rd) also ran for the Spartans.
On the men's side, Windsor won the race as Florida, Embry-Riddle, Kennesaw State and Johns Hopkins occupied the top five. Tampa finished with 291 points as the top NCAA Division II team.
Tony Nicolosi finished 23rd with a time of 26:17. 90. UT's top five included Chris Catanach (34th), Kevin Lane (69th), Matt Altimari (82nd) and Jeremy Lautzenheiser (115th).
Other Spartans who participated were Gordon Wright (122nd), Greg Moore (136th), Jordan Bass (166th), Tom Buonchristiano (175th), Joe Ranalli (187th), Mike Maerz (196th), Steve Cain (214th), Ryan McCall (230th), Kevin Harley (242nd) and Raymon Cheng (282nd).
Tampa will be back in action on Sat., Oct. 25, at the Sunshine State Conference championships. UT will serve as the host as the race will be ran at Brandon Trails.