Sept. 7, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - In an event that included some powerhouse Division I programs, The West Florida Cross Country teams performed very well on Friday. Coach Matt Dobson was really excited about the performances, "all of the guys (men's team) ran faster than last week and many set PR's for the run." For the Women, Diana Sitar ran her fastest 5k yet, at 19:03 and was running right along with the top D-I runners.

"I was real proud of Diana, and Margaret Harter and Kelli Midden turned in great runs also," exclaimed Dobson. "Our girls were missing two of our top runners and still had an outstanding showing." The Women finished second of all the D-II schools, trailing only the University of Tampa. UWF and Tampa are among the schools that are considered to have a shot at the national title.

The Men's squad was the top D-II school in the meet, due to Nick Maedel and Justin Gates turning in races of over a minute faster than previously. "Nick has been having some great workouts and ran a great race today. However, I might have been proudest of Justin Gates, who is a Junior and all his hard work has finally paid off." Dobson continued to be proud of the fact that much of his team had been battling sickness, but it didn't deter them today. "We are where we want to be right now, and I think have the formula (for training runs) that will work for this team."

Freshmen Nick Maedel was the top UWF men's runner with a 27:08 for the 8k run, good for 25th overall. Junior Justin Gates (27:23) and Junior Eric Mayes (27:35) were right behind. Freshmen Reynolds Griner (28:09) and Freshmen Jared Black (28:12) rounded out the Argos top five runners. Meanwhile, two other Freshmen were not far behind them, as Josh McEachin (28:25) and Andrew Maedel (28:32), ran very well also.

For the women, Senior Diana Sitar finished 14th overall, while Junior Margaret Harter (20:10) was 37th, and Freshmen Kelli Midden (20:27) was 41st overall out of 175 runners in the meet. Freshmen Ericka Anderson (21:17) and Senior Lindsey Failing (22:31) rounded out the Argos top five runners.

The University of Florida was the overall team champion for both the men's 8k run and the women's 5k run. Enoch Nadler of Florida won the men's race in 24:48, while Lindsay Sundell of the Gators was the women's champion in the 5k with a time of 17:41. The Argos will compete again next week in the Commodore Classic in Nashville, Tennessee. That race will also have a mix of Division I and Division II schools, and provides some great competition for the Argos.