Sept. 29, 2007
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Argonauts Men's and Women's Cross Country teams both finished in 2nd place in the Gulf Coast Cross Country Stampede at the Escambia county Equestrian Center Saturday morning. Both meets were very competitive, as the UWF men finished 2nd (out of seven) with a score of 47, just behind Rutgers Camden with 45. Florida Gulf Coast University was third with 49. The UWF women finished 2nd behind Florida Gulf Coast, but were able to out distance a strong Florida Tech team, and four other teams.
Margaret Harter was the top finisher for the UWF women in 4th place overall with a time of 19:39 for the 5k race. Harter explained, "I met my expectations today with a PR for this course, but I still want to improve each meet." Her teammate Kelli Midden also set a PR, with a 20:01 time, which was good enough for a 6th place finish. Rebecca (Becky) Thielemann was right behind her in 8th place with a 20:14.
Eric Mayes was the top finisher for the Argonaut Men with a 3rd place finish in 27:13. Just behind him was teammate Justin Gates in 4th place, running a 27:23 time for the 8k race. Mayes would say afterwards, "I had planned on cruising, but I felt great and ran better than expected." He added, "This course worked out well for our running style and we knew where all the sand was, so it helped us run a little faster." The Argos did run well as a team, as nine UWF runners finished under 29 minutes and 15 seconds.
Coach Matt Dobson was very pleased with the Men's performances, "We had three more personal bests today, so we are definitely heading in the right direction, and if we pay attention to the little things, that can help us knock off a few more seconds. Our goal was to make the National meet and that hasn't changed, as our progress and our plan looks like it is working. Eric and Justin ran real well, and it was great for Justin, since he was coming off an injury and looked strong running,"
Dobson commented on the women's performance by saying, "the girls were amazing today, as we were very competitive even without our #1 runner Diana (Sitar) and another top runner (Katherine Ragia). I was very happy for Margaret (Harter), as all her hard work is now paying off. Also, Kelli Midden ran a personal best, and she has battled thru the workouts and is coming around nicely." Coach Dobson also raved about Becky Theielemann, a Senior that has endured major injuries and couldn't run all last year. "Becky set a collegiate PR (personal best) for a 5k today, and that was great to see after all she has been through." Erika Anderson (14th, 21:14) and Lindsey Failing (19th, 21:48) also finished well enough to help the UWF team score a strong second place finish.
The UWF men received strong races from several of their freshmen, including Nicholas Maedel, who finished 10th with a 27:46. Freshmen Jared Black and Senior Jordan Theuerkauf finished 17th and 18th with the same 28:16 time. Coach Dobson was very pleased for Theuerkauf, as he explained, "Jordan ran for the first time this year, and ran controlled with no pain. If we can have him at 100% by post season, we will have more strength in our team." Freshmen Josh McEachin (20th, 28:34) and Andrew Maedel (22nd, 28:50) also ran well. "I was very pleased with our freshmen, including Josh, who is coming on better than expected, this early," explained Dobson. The other finishers for the Men's team included; Scott Lydick (26th, 29:11), Sean Jansen (28th, 29:15)
