BIG EAST Championship Central
TAMPA - The University of South Florida cross country teams will look to cap a strong 2009 season as the Bulls prepare to run in the BIG EAST Championships Saturday at the Wayne E. Dannehl National XC Course in Milwaukee, Wis., hosted by Marquette.
The men will run at noon, while the women begin at 12:50 p.m. Fans can follow the action here through Championship Central courtesy of the BIG EAST, including results as they become available.
USF arrives in Milwaukee looking to top last year's performances at the BIG EAST Championships held in New York, where the women finished 10th while the men came in 14th place. The Georgetown men and the Villanova women will attempt to defend their 2008 titles.
USF last competed Oct. 16 at the Hatter Invitational, where both squads had solid afternoons. The women's team grabbed second out of a total of 20 teams, while the men earned a fourth-place finish among 18 teams competing.
Sophomore Nicole Rozario continued to post the top time on the women's side, as she finished in 18:06 in the 5k race, USF's top time on the season, to come in third overall. Sophomores Allie Prendergast, Jen Wynands and Devin Spoerle went 2-3-4 for the Bulls, while classmate Yasmin Smith, another of USF's top 5 runners, sat out due to illness.
Rozario has crossed the finish line as the top runner for USF in all four meets she has competed in, while Prendergast, Wynands and Smith have finished in the top 4 each time they have run as well. Spoerle, senior Kelly Savery and sophomore Shaniel Chambers have also earned top-5 finishes for the Bulls this year.
The women will run the 6k at the league championships for only the second time this year after competing in the Paul Short Invitational Oct. 2 at Lehigh. Rozario's time of 21:24 was the best mark for the Bulls, placing her in 39th among a strong field of runners.
Junior Pedro Carela became the third different runner to come in first for the Bulls at the Hatter Invitational, the Bulls' fourth meet of the season, joining senior Ryan Courtoy and sophomore Phillip Wise. Courtoy has posted the top time for USF twice, including the best time by any USF runner this season with a time of 26:09 in the 8k at the Paul Short Invite.
Wise has finished in the top 4 each time for the Bulls, and freshman Felix Soto has done the same in three of the four meets on the year. The Bulls will also rely on senior Robert Sudduth and sophomore Lucas Simari to boost their overall team finish.
The Bulls will be up against some of the best teams in the country at the league championships, as five men's teams and six women's squad rank in the top 30 of the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Poll. Four of the nation's top 10 teams on the women's side hail from the BIG EAST, including No. 2 Villanova and No. 4 West Virginia.
Following the league championships, USF will compete in the NCAA Regional Nov. 14 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The NCAA Championships will be run out of Terre Haute, Ind., Nov. 23 and will be carried live on VERSUS.
