Contact: Chris Woodley
Phone: (850) 474-2428
Email: cwoodley@uwf.edu
November 2, 2005

Argonauts Set For Regional Championships

PENSACOLA, FLA. – After a second place finish at the Gulf South Conference Championships in Memphis, Tenn. on Oct. 22, the West Florida men’s cross country team will compete in the 21-team field NCAA Division II South Regional this Saturday at 9:15 a.m. EST. The 10K race will be held at the Little Everglades Ranch in Dade City, Fla., hosted by Florida Southern College. West Florida is looking to improve upon a fifth place finish from last year.

West Florida is led by three runners who earned All-GSC honors at the GSC Championships. Junior Michael Padilla earned his second consecutive All-GSC First Team honor after placing fifth at the GSC Championships. At last year’s regional championship race, Padilla shattered the 10K school record by just over a minute to finish fifth. In the process, he became the first Argonaut men’s cross country runner to advance to the national tournament. Padilla placed 11th in his first regional race in 2003.

Senior Caleb Carmichael earned his fourth All-GSC honor by finishing ninth at the GSC Championships. Carmichael will be racing in his final regional championship race. Carmichael finished 26th at last year’s regional championship. He has finished in the top 30 in each of the last three regional races.

Senior Sam Ishee just missed his fourth All-GSC First Team selection by finishing 11th at the GSC Championships to earn second team honors. Ishee placed 19th at last year’s regional race with a time of 32:35. His time was the third fastest 10K time in school history. He has placed in the top 20 in each of his previous three regional races.

Also running for West Florida will be: Brian Gowin, Brian Miller, Craig Henry and Danny Bauer.

This will be the second time this season that the Argonauts will race on this course. Earlier this season at the NCAA Division II Pre-Regional, West Florida finished fourth in a 14-team field. Padilla finished third out of 132 runners, and posted the third best 8K time in school history at 25:11.33. Carmichael also placed in the top ten by finishing ninth.

The top three teams, and the top two individuals not on those three teams, will qualify for the NCAA Division II Championship meet on Nov. 19 in Pomona, Calif.