Long Beach State University Athletics
Beach Women Take Riverside Title; Grabow Moves Up Charts
10/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Women Win Riverside Invite, Grabow 2nd For Men RIVERSIDE, CA-- The Long Beach State women's cross country team took a major step forward at the UC Riverside Invitational, winning the school's first team title in over a decade, as Nicole Blalock (Orange), Meredith Kramon (Larkspur) and Crystal Roethlisberger (Tulare) each finished in the top-15. Jimmy Grabow (Running Springs) was the top 49er male, finishing second with a time of 24:23.40, bettering his personal-best with now the third fastest time in school-history. "I thought we ran really well, especially on the women's side," said Distance Coach Matt Roe. "I think this was our first major victory on the women's side in over a decade and there have been only a few of them in school history. It's pretty exciting. To beat a team like Southern Utah, who I saw while I was coaching at Western Illinois, and who has won the last six Mid-Continent titles, it's a big deal." For the women, Blalock led The Beach with a fifth place finish, running 18:01.60, 30 seconds behind Southern Utah's Alisha Bezanson on the 5K course. Kramon finished in 12th place (18:19.90), while Roethlisberger (18:24.90) was 14th. All five of the 49er women finished in the top-35 of the 12-team race. The women finished with 85 points, followed by Southern Utah (107 points) and CS Fullerton (111). "I think a lot of the credit for our win today goes to Crystal Roethlisberger and Danielle Miller (who finished 32nd), for putting us over the top," said Roe. Grabow finished seven seconds behind Cal Poly Pomona's Daniel Rojas with a time of 24:23.40 for second place, breaking his time at Stanford (24:42) to move from fifth to third on the all-time running charts. The 49er men finished in seventh place with 192 total points behind winner Cal Coast Track Club. "On the men's side, Jimmy continues to improve and I thought the men ran a pretty solid race," said Roe, who rested two of his top three runners today. Riverside's course will be the site of this year's Big West Championships on October 30. RIVERSIDE INVITATIONAL Long Beach State Men: Winner--Daniel Rojas, Cal Poly Pomona, 24:16.80; 2. Jimmy Grabown, 24:23.40; 38. Kenny Lawrence, 25:44.10; 50. Jacob Kruczynski, 25:5.20; 54. Jon Breed, 25:59.00; 55. Andy Ponce de Leon, 25:59.30; 56. Scott Breithaupt, 25:59.50; Top-10 Women's 5K Team Scores (out of 12): 1. LONG BEACH STATE 85; 2. Southern Utah 107; 3. CS Fullerton 111; 4. Concordia 116; 5. San Jose State 129; 6. Azusa Pacific 153; 7. Pepperdine 159; 8. Fresno State 183; 9. UC Riverside 189; 10. USC "A" 199. Long Beach State Women: Winner-- Alisha Bezanson, Southern Utah, 17:31.30; 5. Nicole Blalock, 18:01.60; 12. Meredith Kramon, 18:19.90; 14. Crystal Roethlisberger, 18:24.90; 24. Bethany Gardner, 18:41.00; 32. Danielle Miller,18:53.80 |
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