Tallahassee, Fla. - When the Florida State men\'s, ranked No. 26 in the nation, and women\'s cross country teams stepped to the starting lines on Friday evening, October 1, 2004, no one expected what occurred - the Seminole men beat No. 12 Indiana and No. 20 Miami (OH) , finishing in sixth place (143 points) behind five Mondo National Poll Top 30 programs. The women took ninth place behind with 311 points and a starting five comprised of one senior All-American, one sophomore and three freshmen.
\"We had a great meet,\" said head coach Bob Braman. \"It was a very cool day and a very big race for us. I was surprised by the women\'s team because five of the top seven runners ran lifetime bests. We have a very young team with three freshmen and one sophomore in our top five scorers so I\'m extremely proud of how well they did.
\"Lemoncello stepped in as our number one, running one of the fastest times in school history,\" continued Braman. \"We knocked off some big programs - (No. 12 ) Indiana, (No. 20) and Miami of Ohio. We\'re without (number one Luke Beevor) who\'s out with an injury. You add (Beevor) to the mix and we\'re in third place finishing that race. \"
Three Seminole men entered the top ten men\'s all-time 8K list while one bettered his time and standing from sixth to ninth. Four FSU men\'s runners scored in the top 30. The men\'s team had the best team place among Atlantic Coast Conference schools (Georgia Tech - 21st) and in the region, beating rival Florida by three spots.
On the women\'s side, five runners ran lifetime bests for a 5K race. The women were the first unranked team to cross the line and beat preseason No. 23 Penn State and Florida, who finished in 21st place.
Junior Andrew Lemoncello (St. Andrews, Scotland/Stirling) crossed the line in fourth place with the second fastest 8K time in school history, completing the course in 23:48, one second off Larry Greene\'s 1980 record of 23:47. Sophomore Tom Lancashire (Bolton, England/Turton) bettered his season and personal best mark of 2528.20, set at the Mountaineer Open in early September, to 24:16, moving him into fifth all-time. Senior captain Eddie Rodriguez (Miami, FL/FIU), was the third Tribe member to finish, taking 26th place in 24:17, bettering his personal record by 27 seconds and jumping from ninth to sixth in the record books. Junior transfer Sean Burris (Rockledge, FL/USF) and senior Ian Hornabrook (Queensland, Australia/Rend Lake College) completed the top five scoring, posting times of 24:19 and 24:46. Burris\' mark places him at number seven all-time while Hornabrook was three seconds off personal best mark of 24:43 (all-time 8th place, entering the race).
Five-time All-American Natalie Hughes (Grand Junction, CO/Palisade) completed the 5K course in 17:28, good for 27th place. Freshmen duo Kirsten Hagen (Blacksburg, VA/Christiansburg) and Laura Bowerman (Temple Terrace, FL/King) took 41st and 42nd in personal best marks of 17:42. Sophomore Meredith Urban (Davie, FL/Green Hope (NC)) and freshman Cristen Litz (Sarasota, FL/Sarasota) rounded out the top scorers with 106th and 109th place finishes of 18:27.
FSU returns to the course next weekend when the women\'s b-team heads to Orlando, Fla., for the Disney Invitational.