Beach Headed to Stanford Invite
Toughest Test of the Season Up Next September 24, 2001
Stanford Invite Looms: After a strong showing at the UC Riverside Invitational, The Beach will face some of the nation's top teams, when they travel to the Stanford Invitational this Saturday. The Coaches: Director Andy Sythe is in his 13th season as director of both the track and field and cross country programs. During Sythe's tenure, 49er track athletes have achieved 70 NCAA qualifying performances, 55 conference champions, had 18 All-Americans, three Big West Athletes of-the-year, one NCAA national champion and another NCAA runner-up. In cross country, eight 49er student-athletes have earned All-Big West Conference honors. Dana Colligan Gutierez is in her second season as the distance coach for LBSU. Larry Henderson is in his first season as a graduate assistant coach. Killer B's: Brian Robles and Brian Stehmeier were Long Beach State's top runners at the UCR Invite, both setting personal bests in the team's first meet of the season. Robles, in his first collegiate meet, finished 29th with a time of 26:42.4 (8K), while Stehmeier tied his PR with a 26:48.1, 33rd finish. The two led a group of five 49ers within 19 seconds of one another, as the team finished seventh. Palacio Comes Back Strong: After being listed as "doubtful" due to illness, for Saturday's race, Drea Palacio, led the 49er women to a seventh place finish at the UCR 5K with a time of 19:20.0. The time was 10 seconds off of her PR, and the fifth fastest LBSU 5K time on the UCR course. Nordic Explosion: Jaclyn Pedersen had a strong start to her 49er career, finishing 62nd with a time of 20:09.0 on Saturday. Top Newcomers: Matt Bates, Arturo Garcia and Brian Robles are the top male newcomers, while Jaclyn Pederson, Betsy Lively and Sharon Burnett are the top female runners. Bates is an all-stater, Garcia is one of the top California runners, and Robles is a three-time all-league pick. Pederson was a Junior National qualifier, Lively finished third at the AAU XC Nationals, while Burnett is strong transfer from Portland State. Young Guns: To say that this year's team is young, would be an understatement. The men's team features seven freshmen, four sophomores and no upperclassmen, while the women's team has seven freshmen, five sophomores and one junior. Long Beach State Invitational: The Beach will host their annual invitational on Saturday, October 6. For coaches, more information can be gathered by calling the cross country office at (562) 985-2318 or by visiting the cross country portion of www.longbeachstate.com. Rest of the Schedule: The Cal Poly Invite on October 13 will be a tune up for the Big West Championships two weeks later (Oct. 27). The West Regionals will be held in Tucson on November 10, while Nationals will be hosted by Furman University (S.C.) on November 19. | 
