Oct. 21, 2006

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Three Argonaut runners finished in the top 20 and as a team West Florida women's cross country finished tied for third place at the Gulf South Conference Championships Saturday morning at Sharon Johnston Park. The finish from top to bottom was the best single day performance at the conference championship for West Florida, finishing with an average time of 20:08 and a total time of 1:40:36.

"Really focused and it showed," said West Florida head Coach Matt Dobson. "They wanted to do well and our confidence showed."

Lauren Brooks was the first Argonauts to cross the finish line in 11th place with a time of 19:25. Jessica Spurgeon and Jen Pulmano used teamwork to finish in 19th and 20th place finishing one second apart with times of 20:02 and 20:03. Brooks, Spurgeon and Pulmano earned All-GSC Second Team selections.

Also for West Florida, Dawn Kane raced to a time of 20:23 good for 24th place while teammate Amy Lankford finished the race in 32nd place with a time of 20:43.

Diana Sitar and Rebecca Theilemann round out the Argonaut runners, similar to Spurgeon and Pulmano, Theilemann and Sitar finish one second apart in 38th and 39th place with times of 20:53 and 20:54.

"The pace was fast at the beginning," Dobson said, "but they were patient and caught runners during the race."

Up next for the Argonauts is the NCAA Division II Regional Championships in Memphis, Tenn. on Nov. 4. The top three teams from the region will advance to nationals, which will be held at the Escambia County Equestrian Center in Pensacola on Nov. 18.

"I was very happy," Dobson said. "They have what it takes to qualify for nationals. I believe they have the physical abilities to be one of the best teams."