John Holton
Staff Writer
The women’s cross country team struggled at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. last weekend, coming in 15th overall out of 20 teams that competed in the five kilometer (3.1 mile) race. The top finisher for the Dons was junior Elena Burkard, who just managed to crack the top 20 runners, coming in 19th overall with a time of 16:45.2. Continue reading Women’s Cross Country: Burkard Finishes 19th, But Dons Ineffective in Indiana
Andrew Noerr
Staff Writer
The USF men’s and women’s cross country teams participated in the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto this past Saturday, and both squads fared well against tough competition. Continue reading Cross Country: Madera, causey Pioneer Productive Efforts at Stanford Invitational
Nicholas Welsh
Staff Writer
Women
The Dons ran to second place last Saturday, Sept. 13 in the West Coast Conference Preview held at Baylands Park in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Continue reading Cross country: Women Take Second, Men Fourth at WCC Preview
Dahlberg’s First Place Finish Catapults Dons to Fifth Consecutive WCC Championship
“Obviously, it’s really exciting to win our fifth, and it doesn’t really seem like that many,” head coach Helen Lehman-Winters told USFDons.com. “It all goes so fast. We came into the championships knowing that this was a really important meet for us. Winning five is really all about the people we have in our program and the standards that they’ve set. I attribute this success to them.”
Even as the day was clearly a successful one for the Dons, it wasn’t completely free from suspense. Trailing Portland’s Laura Hottenrott into the final stretch of the match, Dalhberg surged to a comfortable lead, and it looked as if the Dons were headed towards a certain victory. However, Hottenrott would come back to regain the lead and come dangerously close to taking first place. But digging deep, Dahlberg used her final kick to surge into the top spot, and ended up beating out Hottenrott by three seconds.
“I just think the team had a great performance today and nothing stops momentum. This is a great start before [regionals],” Dahlberg told TheW.tv’s Amanda Blackwell.
With the win, the Dons find themselves in a groove heading into the NCAA West Regionals, which will take place on Nov. 15 at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif.
USF ran to a fifth-place team finish on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the West Coast Conference Championships in Malibu, Calif. The Dons were led by stellar sophomore Eric Causey, who took second place overall behind BYU’s Jason Witt.
Witt set the pace for most of the race with Causey following, until Causey moved into first on the last lap. He couldn’t hold on, though, and was passed by Witt on the final straight as they crossed the finish line. Causey lost by a nose, finishing less than a second behind the BYU senior.
Causey turned in his best time of the season in this race, running the 8,000-meter course in 23:14. He has finished in the top five in each of his four outings this season, racking up two wins, a second-place finish, and a fourth-place finish. These results earned him a spot on the 2013 All-WCC Cross Country team.
Junior Jarrett Moore was the next Don to cross the finish line, coming in 25th place with a time of 24:52. Senior Gustavo Mena came in 14 seconds after Moore, turning in a time of 25:06 and finishing 28th overall. Following the two upperclassmen were sophomore Nick Hicks and freshman Tom Bradley who finished in the top 50.
Redshirt junior Adam Smith lost his shoe near the start of the race, yet still managed to complete the course with a time of 26:25. The last Don to cross the line was freshman Patrick Kunkel, with a time of 26:31.
After the runners had completed the course and the dust had settled, USF had finished in fifth place overall out of the nine teams that ran at the meet, trailing BYU, Portland, Loyola Marymount, and Gonzaga.
The Dons now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA West Regionals, which will take place at Haggin Oaks Golf Course in Sacramento, Calif. on Nov. 15.
