UT Wins Third Straight Cross Country Regional
DOVER, Fla. - The No. 11 University of Tampa women's cross country team claimed its third straight NCAA Division II South Regional title on Saturday, marking the program's fourth overall championship. The Spartan men also ran, finishing eighth overall.
UT served as the tournament host for the event, which was ran at Dover Trails. It marked the first regional where Tampa served as the host
The women's 5K race lived up to its hype as the Spartans outpaced perennial power Harding University. UT finished with 32 points, while Harding had 47. Fellow Sunshine State Conference opponent Florida Tech finished third as FT's Sara Trane won the women's race with a time of 21:37.
Arkansas Tech and Florida Southern College rounded out the top five as the Spartans and Harding both advanced to the 2009 NCAA Championships with the top two finishes. FSC's Carolyne Kwambai finished fourth overall to join Trane as individuals advancing to the championships.
In the men's 10K event, Harding took top honors with 48 points as it has the race's top two runners in Daniel Kirwa (31:10) and Philip Biwot. Florida Southern and Nova Southeastern made up the top three and each earned an invitation to the championships.
The University of West Georgia and University of West Florida picked up respective top five finishes as the Spartans were eighth with 219 points.
In the women's race, UT placed five runners in the top 10 as each earned a spot on the all-regional team (reserved for the top 15 men's and women's runners). Jess Butler was the top Spartan at second overall with a time of 22:00 flat.
Dara Fox (22:26) and Heather Nicolosi (22:36) finished fifth and sixth respectively as the UT top five also included Alysha Duffy (ninth, 22:55) and Sara Nelson (10th, 22:56). SSC Freshman of the Year Kaia Hampton (18th, 23:29) and Paige Williams (24:01) also ran for Tampa.
UT's men were led by senior Chris Catanach, who picked up an 18th place finish after a time of 33:32. Lewis Price (25th, 34:04), Greg Moore (39th, 34:39), Tory Webb (64th, 35:50) and Steve Cain (73rd, 36:16) made up Tampa's top five qualifiers.
Freshmen Mike Leone (81st, 37:08) and Charles Toledo (82nd, 37:16) also competed for the Spartan men.
Tampa's women advance to the NCAA Division II Championships, which is scheduled for Sat., Nov. 21 at Evansville, Ind.
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