Kistens Cross Country
POCATELLO, Idaho - Aug. 30 - Southern Utah men and women swept the team titles at the Idaho State Invitational as the cross country teams opened their 2008 season in Pocatello on Saturday morning. Three Thunderbird men finished in the top five with sophomore Cameron Levins winning the individual title as the team finished 16 points ahead of the nearest opponent. The women clumped a 6th through 12th finish to complete the course eight points ahead of host Idaho State.
"This was a very good meet for us on both sides," head coach Eric Houle said of the results. "The times on the women's side are a little deceiving because they got out pretty slow and then picked it up as the race went along. However, I'm really excited to see where our team is at and as long as we can stay healthy, I think we'll be a good team."
Levins led the men with a time of 18:51.06 on the 6k course, finishing more than 15 seconds ahead of second-place finisher and teammate Nate Jewkes with a time of 19:16.47. Jewkes was joined by fellow freshman Nigel Sharp in the top five as the Canadian finished with a time of 19:33.91.
Dave Sheeran (19:42.72, 7th) and Graham Cheever (20:05.94, 12th-scored 10th) wrapped up the scoring for the Thunderbirds.
On the women's side, true freshman Kiersten Blauer led the charge with a sixth-place finishing time of 11:11.60. She was followed in order by sophomore Diana Medina (11:19.94, 7th), junior Kate Eborn-Call (11:22.82, 8th), freshman Kirsten Sly (11:23.32, 9th) and freshman Jamie Smith (11:24.44, 10th) to round out the scoring for the women.
Freshman Jo Gullo (11:25.22) and sophomore Lynzee Baxter (11:26.66) finished just out of scoring contention with an 11th and 12th-place finish.
The results of the meet hold a lot of promise for the Thunderbirds as the women's final finisher was 14 seconds faster than the final scored runner on the same course in 2007. The men also looked to be improved with their final scored runner, posting a time 19 seconds faster than the previous year.
The men and women will return to action over the weekend of Sept. 20 when the team travels to New Rochelle, N.Y. to compete in the Iona Invitational.
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Name Year School Finals Points
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Results - Women
1 Maini, Gemma Idaho State 10:55.97 1
2 Nothum, Mary Unattached 11:02.32
3 Wendt, Erica Idaho State 11:05.76 2
4 Davis, Keryn Idaho State 11:07.19 3
5 Bentley, Karinne Unattached 11:08.76
6 Blauer, Kiersten Southern Utah 11:11.60 4
7 Medina, Diana Southern Utah 11:19.94 5
8 Call, Kate Southern Utah 11:22.82 6
9 Sly, Kirsten Southern Utah 11:23.32 7
10 Smith, Jamie Southern Utah 11:24.44 8
11 Gullo, Jo Southern Utah 11:25.22 9
12 Baxter, Lynzee Southern Utah 11:26.66 10
13 Eisenhauer, Aleina Utah Valley 11:27.38 11
14 Harper, Krystal Utah Valley 11:27.82 12
15 Befdord, Sylvia Southern Utah 11:31.06
16 Jacobsen, Cydney Idaho State 11:32.12 13
17 Talbot, Stephanie Utah Valley 11:32.85 14
18 Zufelt, Kalina Utah Valley 11:35.88 15
19 Hodges, Parris Unattached 11:36.91
20 Minson, Steffi Southern Utah 11:39.32
21 Baird, Melissa Utah Valley 11:47.00 16
22 Oplin, Madalyn Southern Utah 11:49.10
23 Baker, Angela Utah Valley 11:56.12 17
24 Coombs, Trisha Utah Valley 11:57.38 18
25 Thomasberg, Kris Idaho State 12:02.38 19
26 Janowitz, Mandi Idaho State 12:14.97 20
27 Lundgren, Kirsten Southern Utah 12:22.76
28 Miller, Chealse Idaho State 12:31.47 21
29 Erickson, Kindal Southern Utah 12:37.38
30 Holm, Ashley Utah Valley 12:38.35
31 Torres, Monique Utah Valley 12:51.91
32 Hutchinson, Bradi Idaho State 12:56.32
33 Bentely, Kamee Utah Valley 12:57.41
34 Rowan, Candida Idaho State 13:21.25
35 Jaynes, April Idaho State 13:27.53