Long Beach State University Athletics
49er Women Produce Best Finish; Men Fourth
10/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
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49er Women Take Off with Best Finish SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA-- The Long Beach State women's cross country team produced its best finish in program history, tying the 1989 and 1979 squads, by finishing second at the Big West Championships on Saturday morning. This year's team did so by finishing ahead of two previously ranked programs and behind overall leader, UC Santa Barbara, who is ranked No. 7 nationally. The men finished in fourth place as both teams had their best two-year finish since the late 1980's. Meredith Kramon was named all-conference for the second consecutive season, as she was one of five runners to break the course record, running 22:08.0, for fifth place. The women finished with 72 points, which was also a school-record and bettered last year's 75 points and third place showing. "It was a great finish for the women in a very close race," said Distance Coach Matt Roe, whose team produced the best combined finish in program history for the second consecutive year. "We were able to get by two teams ranked ahead of us in the region (UC Irvine and UC Riverside) and ran well overall with all five scorers finishing in the top-25." After Kramon, the 49er women kept in a close pack, as Jenessa Botello was 13th with a time of 22:54.5, followed by Ludi Valdez (22:59.6) in 14th place. To prove how tough the conference has gotten over the past couple of seasons, Nicole Blalock, whose time of 23:08.1 was nearly identical to her all-conference run as a freshman, instead put her in 18th place. Kristina Wilson rounded out the scoring in 22nd place with a time of 23:26.1. The men finished fourth overall, as Wolhan Ovalle was the top finisher, finishing 21st with a time of 27:22.7. After being picked to finish fifth, the men just missed the top-three, firing off 110 points for fourth place, four points behind third place UC Irvine. Cal Poly won the overall men's title with 29 points. "It is bitter sweet for the men.," said Roe. "We ran well placed well considering we graduated our top two runners from last year, but I thought we were capable of more. We just came up short." The 49ers will take next week off before heading to the Regionals in Portland, OR on November 11. TEAM RESULTS Individual Placings (LBSU): 5. Meredith Kramon (22:08.0), 13. Jenessa Botello (22:54.5), 14. Ludi Valdez (22:59.6), 18. Nicole Blalock (23:08.1), 22. Kristina Wilson (23:26.1), 37. Missy Barclay (24:37.6), 39. Jennifer Rodriguez (24:37.9), 46. Cheryl Bube (25:07.6). MEN: Cal Poly-29, UC Santa Barbara-33, UC Irvine-106, Long Beach State-110, CS Fullerton-140, UC Riverside-150, CS Northridge-192 Individual Placings (LBSU): 21. Wolhan Ovalle (27:22.7),
24. Eli Rodriguez (27:28.5), 25. Jesus Santana (27:34.3), 26. Dylan Jaedtke
(23:39.2), 28. Mario Cobian (27:44.7), 31. Jason Bruton (27:51.5), 47.
Hudson Wilvers (29:47.9). |
