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(July 31, 2002) - The UC
Riverside Agricultural Operations Cross Country Course will
be the site of UCR's first-ever Big West Championship event
as the Highlanders host the Big West Championship Meet on
November 2, 2002.
"This will be an exciting
event for the entire Highlander family, and I am looking forward
to pulling out all the stops to make this a top-flight event,"
Athletics Director Stan Morrsion said.
Additional information on
the meet will be posted in coming weeks.
(August 31, 2001) - The
UC Riverside men's and women's cross country teams kicked
off the season at the 2002 Cal State Fullerton "Season
Opener" Cross Country meet at Carbon Canyon Regional
Park in Brea. The Highlander men posted a fifth place finish
overall, while the women finished 11th overall.
Carlos Handler led the Highlanders
with a 13th place finish, covering the eight kilometer course
in 25:33.10. Brothers Josh and Israel Gonzales were 28th and
30th, respectively. Josh finished in a time of 26:08.00 and
Israel in 26:09.20.
Kelsey Wright was the top
finisher for the women, completing the five kilometer course
in 19:22.00. Adrianna Alvarado was 60th in 19:55.40.
Stanford won both the men's
and women's events.
Complete results for the
men can be found here,
while women's results can be found here.
(September 21, 2002) - Cross
country fans got a sneak peek at what the Big West Championships
may look like in November as the Utah State men’s and
women’s cross country teams were the top finishers at
the Riverside Cross Country Invitational at the Agricultural
Operations course on campus Saturday.
UCR will host the Big West
Championships at the course on November 2. With that in mind
some of the top teams in the conference came out to get a
rehearsal run on the hilly course. Two hundred eighty men
finished their race, while the women were divided into two
heats of over 140 each.
The overall winner in the
men’s race was the Cal Coast Track Club, which finished
with 44 points. Utah State was right behind with 45 points,
giving them honors as the top finishing collegiate team. Cal
Poly (SLO) was third with 70 points, followed by the Runners
High Club (97), Cal State San Marcos (188), Cal State Fullerton
(204) and UC Riverside (243).
The race itself was won
by Julius Gidabuday of Runners High, who covered the 8000-meter
course in 24:31.80. The top collegiate runner was Andy Coughlin
of Cal Poly, who finished in 24:37.50, third overall.
Carlos Handler was the top
finisher for the Highlanders, placing 31st overall in 25:55.20.
Israel Gonzales finished 39th in 26:11.90 and brother Josh
was 46th in 26:19.20.
On the women’s side,
Utah State took the first race with a total of 70 points,
edging Track West, who posted a 73 despite having the top
two finishers in the race. Track West’s Melissa Correa
cruised to first in 18:10.90 over the 5000-meter course, 14
seconds faster than her teammate Carmen Martinez. Santa Barbara’s
Desiree Leek was the top collegiate finisher, coming in third
in 18:37.10.
Adriana Alvardo was the
top finisher for the Highlanders, placing 56th in 19:53.80.
Kelsey Wright finished 74th in 20:32.30, and Melissa Garza
was 94th in 21:15.40. Overall the Highlanders finished in
14th place.
NAIA power Azusa Pacific
took the second event with 45 points, placing three finishers
among the top seven, easily beating second place Cal State
San Marcos. Pomona-Pitzer’s Laura Bishop won the race
in 18:57.30, followed by Brianna Carstesen (19:13.10) and
Christine Krause (19:25.50) of APU.
The
men's results can be viewed here.
The
women's first results can be viewed here.
The
women's second results can be viewed here.
(September 28, 2002) - Led
by Carlos Handler's 36th place finish, the UC Riverside Highlanders
finished 12th overall at the Stanford Invitational in Palo
Alto Saturday. The UCR women finished 26th in their division.
Handler covered the course
in 24:39, just over a minute behind the top finishers. Israel
Gonzalez was 79th in 25:26 and Noe Romo was 101 in 25:47.
For the women, Adriana Alvarado
was the top finisher, placing 111th in 23:26. Kelsey Wright
was 125th in 23:36 and Melissa Garza was 171st in 24:40.
Complete
results can be viewed here.
(Oct.
12, 2002) - The Highlanders' men's team had its best finish
of the season, placing behind just UCLA at the UCSD Invite.
The women's team, which is suffering through injuries, raced
three runners.
Sophomore Carlos Handler
continued his exceptional season with a sixth place finish,
covering the 8,000 meter course in 25:23.2. Brothers Josh
and Israel Gonzales finished 18th and 19th, respectively.
Josh finished in 25:55.8 and Israel was 2.2 seconds behind
at 25:58.0. Noé Romo was 41st in 26:38.2 and Ruben
Espinoza was 49th in 26:50.3.
On the women's side, the
Highlanders were able to field three athletes. Adriana Alvarado
was 40th in 24:06.4 over 5,000 meters. Melissa Garza was 73rd
in 25:39.4 and Andrea Callihan was 88th in 27:04.9.
Complete
results can be viewed here.
(Oct.
19, 2002) - The Highlanders' men's team placed fifth and the
women finished eighth at the Long Beach Invitational Cross
Country meet at El Dorado Park Saturday.
The meet was the Highlanders'
final event prior to the Big West Championships on November
2nd. The race will be held at UCR's Agricultural Operations
Course.
The women's team, which
has been battling illness and injury this season, fielded
six runners this week after having just three available last
week. Adriana Alvarado was the Highlanders top finisher, placing
33rd in 19:37. The remainder of the Highlanders squad was
solidly bunched together, as Kelsey Wright placed 44th 20:06,
Melissa Stoll 48th in 20:20, Melissa Garza 56th in 20:42,
Melissa Osuna 63rd in 21:04 and Andrea Callihan 64th in 21:05.
On the men's side, the Highlanders
finished fifth overall and third among collegiate squads.
Israel Gonzales was the Highlanders top finisher in 26:13,
good for 16th place. Freshman Andy Padilla had his best finish
of the season, placing just one second behind at 26:14. Noe
Romo was 23rd in 26:31,Ruben Espinoza was 25th in 26:33, Donovan
Jones was 32nd in 26:54, Paul Hansen 42nd in 27:24 and Ryan
Allen 45th in 27:32.
Complete
men's results can be viewed here.
Complete
women's results can be viewed here.
(Nov.
2, 2002) - The University of Idaho won the women’s championship
and Utah State won the men’s crown at the 2002 Big West
Cross Country Championship held at the UC Riverside Agricultural
Operations Race Course Saturday.
For
the women, sophomore Letiwe Marakurwa of Idaho was the individual
winner, covering the 5,000-meter course in 17:47.0. She finished
9.6 seconds ahead of second place finisher Katie Appenrodt
of UC Santa Barbara. The senior finished in 17:56.6. Junior
Tania Vander Meulen of Idaho rounded out the top three with
an 18:03.2 performance.
Idaho
earned the team championship, posting a total of 48 points
on the day, seven better than second place UC Santa Barbara.
UC Irvine was third with 72 points.
On
the men’s side, Utah State grabbed the top two places
and had five finishers in the top-10 as they earned the conference
championship. Senior Mitch Zundel and junior Mike Nielson
both put on a strong finishing kick over the last 300 meters
of the 8,000 meter course, but Zundel edged ahead to win the
championship in 24:46.5. Nielson finished in 24:47.4. Junior
Sean Ricketts of Cal Poly finished third in 24:56.8.
Overall,
the Aggies won the team championship with a total of 25 points.
Cal Poly was second with 40 and UC Santa Barbara was third
with 95.
Following
the meet, the coaches selected Marakurwa as Women’s
Athlete of the Year and Idaho Head Coach Wayne Phipps as Women’s
Coach of the Year. Zundel won the Men’s Athlete of the
Year honor and Utah State Head Coach Greg Gensel was named
Men’s Coach of the Year.
Host
UC Riverside finished ninth overall on the women’s side
with sophomore Adriana Alvarado’s 45th place finish
in 19:36.5 the top performance. For the men, Riverside finished
eighth overall. Junior Josh Gonzalez was the top UCR finisher,
coming in 34th in 26:17.9.
Results
are available on Don Chadez’s Flash Results West site
at www.flashresults.com/flashwest.
Men’s Team
Finishes
1. Utah State - 25
2. Cal Poly - 40
3. UC Santa Barbara - 95
4. CS Fullerton - 125
5. Idaho - 128
6. UC Irvine - 159
7. Long Beach St. - 186
8. UC Riverside - 210
9. CS Northridge - 276
Athlete of the Year - Mitch Zundel, USU
Coach of the Year - Greg Gensel, USU
Women’s Team
Finishes
1. Idaho - 48
2. UC Santa Barbara - 55
3. UC Irvine - 72
4. Utah State - 74
5. CS Northridge - 168
6. Cal Poly - 169
7. CS Fullerton - 183
8. Long Beach St. - 198
9. UC Riverside - 263
10. Pacific - 311
Athlete of the Year - Letiwe
Marakurwa, Idaho
Coach of the Year - Wayne Phipps, Idaho
(Nov.
16, 2002) - Sophomore Carlos Handler of Murietta rebounded
from a poor showing at the Big West Championships two weeks
ago to post a strong 40th place finish at the NCAA West Regionals
held at the Stanford Golf Course Saturday.
The
UCR women’s team also competed and placed 28th overall.
UCR was led by sophomore Adriana Alvarado, who placed 110th
overall in 24:15. Sophomore Kelsey Wright was 151st in 25:15
and sophomore Andrea Callihan placed 167th in 26:00 even.
Sophomore Melissa Garza and junior Melissa Stoll finished
170th and 171st, in 26:13 and 26:16.
The
Highlander men ran just four runners and did not qualify for
team scoring. Handler covered the 10,000 meter course in 31:59.
Senior Donovan Jones ran in 102nd place in 33:39 and senior
Noé Romo was 114th in 34:08. Freshman Andy Padilla
finished 117th in 34:12.
Complete
results can be viewed here.
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