October 8, 2011

Spartans Capture Women’s Title at Disney Classic

Box score

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The No. 11 University of Tampa women's cross country team ran to a championship at the Disney Classic, as the Spartan men's team was fourth overall.

A total of 28 teams ran in the women's race, as Tampa runners claimed three spots in the top-10 to defeat Florida Atlantic, Drake, Florida Gulf Coast and Nova Southeastern. In the men's event, Drake was the top team as Florida Gulf Coast and Johnson Community College edge Tampa. Florida Atlantic rounded out the top five.

Senior Jess Butler placed second overall, finishing the women's 5K in a time of 18:17.60. Heather Nicolosi was fifth (18:38.20) while Kaia Hampton placed eighth overall (18:52.90).

Also running for Tampa was Kelly Hagan (12th, 19:13.00), Lindsay Edwards (21st, 19:26.70), Katie O'Brien (23rd, 19:28.60), Rose Bishop (32nd, 19:50.50), Christa McLeod (57th, 20:11.00), Iolani Scanlan (59th, 20:20.90), Liz Anthony (90th, 20:56.00), Jessie Luttenschlager (91st, 20:56.50), Hailey Smith (117th, 21:20.20), Danielle Stanley (136th, 21:39.70), Abby Patterson (143rd, 21:50.60), Aimee Epps (186th, 23:12.30), Janna Edwards (201st, 23:51.80) and Lauren Pratt (259th, 27:58.00).

Reigning Sunshine State Conference Runner of the Week Charles Toledo paced the Spartan men with a 10th place finish. The junior completed the 8K after clocking a 26:16.48 showing.

Other UT men who ran were Peter Orgass (36th, 27:14.51), Michael Zwijacz (40th, 27:20.28), Lewis Price (43rd, 27:29.19), Chris Rego (53rd, 27:45.06), Eddie Paniccia (61st, 27:50.80), Steven Dennig (68th, 28:05.35), Jake Bailey (71st, 28:07.54), Kevin Lane (81st, 28:20.60), Kyle Taylor (94th, 28:37.20) and Mike Leone (103rd, 28:57.73).

The Spartans will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 22 at the SSC Championships. UT will look to capture its fifth consecutive and 10th SSC title on the women's side. Nova Southeastern will host the race in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Fans may also follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter (www.twitter.com/utspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers blAst, a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.