2019 Men's Cross Country - Year In Review
Bob Braman, Head Coach
David Beauchem, Director of Operations
Click here to see individual mug shots
2019 Men's Cross Country - Year In Review | |
| Coaching Staff Bob Braman, Head Coach David Beauchem, Director of Operations Click here to see individual mug shots |
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Silas Griffith, Ridgefield, Wash.
Kasey Knevelbaard, Caruthers, Calif.
Harrison Martingayle, Virginia Beach, Va.
Connor Phillips, Tallahassee
2019 Roster - By Name
L
T PY
R Name Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
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Clayton Carlson Fr-R Tallahassee (Lincoln)
Chris Corcoran Jr Oakland, N.J. (Indian Hills/Connecticut)
* Steven Cross Sr *** Merritt Island (Merritt Island)
Gabe Curtis Fr Clermont (Mount Dora Christian Academy)
* Tyler Dau So-R Geneva, Ill. (Geneva Community)
Bert Freire Jr-R Miami (Columbus)
* Silas Griffith Jr Ridgefield, Wash. (Ridgefield/Lipscomb)
Micah Hilliard Fr-R Live Oak (Suwannee)
* Jacob Holmes Fr-R Auckland, New Zealand (Sacred Heart College)
* Kasey Knevelbaard Sr-R Caruthers, Calif. (Immanuel/Southern Utah)
Harrison Martingayle Sr-R Virginia Beach, Va. (Princess Anne/Louisiana State)
* Matthew Newland So * Tallahassee (Chiles)
* Connor Phillips Fr Tallahassee (Chiles)
* Caleb Pottorff So-R * Fort Pierce (Lincoln Park Academy)
* Paul Stafford So * Lake Wales (Lake Wales)
2019 Conference Awards
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Kasey Knevelbaard Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
Paul Stafford Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
All-Conference - 2
2019 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covered Bridge Open Boone, N.C. |
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| Virginia Tech Invitational Blacksburg, Va. |
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| Notre Dame Invitational Notre Dame, Ind. |
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| FSU Invitational | |||||
| Pre-National Invitational Terre Haute, Ind. |
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| ACC Championship Blacksburg, Va. |
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| NCAA South Region | |||||
| NCAA Championship Terre Haute, Ind. |
EOY StatsRef Overall Home Away Neutral ------------------------------------------------ FSU record is 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0 0- 0
2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Results 1 Syracuse 68 2 Notre Dame 73 3 Virginia Tech 100 4 Virginia 100 5 Wake Forest 116 6 Florida State 155 7 Duke 162 8 North Carolina State 164 9 Georgia Tech 255 10 North Carolina 298 11 Pittsburgh 315 12 Louisville 341 13 Boston College 405 14 Clemson 412 15 Miami 466
2019 EOY Stats
Team Overall Name Races Top 7 Top 10 Wins =============================================== Kasey Knevelbaard 7 7 2 1 Caleb Pottorff 7 7 1 0 Jacob Holmes 7 4 1 0 Silas Griffith 6 6 1 0 Paul Stafford 6 6 1 0 Matthew Newland 6 6 0 0 Steven Cross 6 6 0 0 Tyler Dau 5 4 2 0 Micah Hilliard 2 1 0 0 Bert Freire 1 1 1 0 Harrison Martingayle 1 0 0 0
Noles Cruise To Victories At Covered Bridge Open.
Knevelbaard wins debut; Aussie's Ryan, Skyring pace dominant women.
BOONE, N.C. - For the third consecutive year and the 11th time in the last 20 years, the Florida State men's and women's cross country teams launched a season by sweeping the team titles at Friday's Covered Bridge Open.
The Noles were led by a pair of newcomers. Graduate transfer Kasey Knevelbaard leaned on his 1500-meter All-American speed to claim the men's title in 24:58.48 over the 8,000-meter Don Kennedy Trails at State Farm Fields. Junior transfer Lauren Ryan nipped teammate and fellow Australian Maudie Skyring, finishing 2-3 over a course which ran long at 5,200 meeters.
Neither team was seriously threatened by nine-team fields.
Florida State's 20th-ranked women were especially impressively, grabbing positions 2-6 and pushing 11 runners across the finish line in the top 15. The Noles' 20-point total was 43 points clear of runner-up East Carolina.
"They did a really nice job," women's coach Kelly Phillips said. "We looked so under control. I did not expect that many of them to be up there because I never let them go with the [High Point] girl when she went."
FSU men's coach Bob Braman was equally pleased as his makeshift lineup produced some encouraging performances by Knevelbaard's victory, cruising to a 28-49 win over runner-up host Appalachian State.
The Noles placed five in the top 10 and received breakout performances from redshirt sophomore Tyler Dau and redshirt junior Bert Freire, who finished fifth and eighth, just behind Caleb Pottorff's fourth-place finish. Redshirt freshman Jacob Holmes was 10th in his cross country debut.
"I was pretty pleased," said Braman, who raced six runners and put six others through a time trial prior to the meet. "I felt like we had really good efforts, both in the race and by the guys running around the course...
"We've kind of created a little extra depth, and that's going to be helpful as the season goes on."
Knevelbaard, who joins the Noles from Southern Utah, was poised as he ran with App State's Isaac Benz until it was time to go. He won by a comfortable eight-second margin.
"Kasey looked like the runner we knew he was," Braman said. "He just sat on the guy and kicked the App State guy down at the end."
The real surprise of the day was Dau, who was the alternate on last season's NCAA postseason roster. With just over 800 meters remaining Dau was in front of Pottorff, his All-ACC and All-Region teammate. Pottorff, the defending race champion, sped off to finish fourth in 25:34.43, with Dau right behind him in 25:36.37.
Freire, who has spent most of his career focusing on the 800-meter run in track, dipped under 26 minutes for the first time in his career (25:56.96). Holmes locked up the team win, finishing in 26:06.15.
"For Tyler Dau and Bert, that's a career Seminole-best for them," Braman said. "Caleb was solid and did his part, and that was a good, solid Seminole debut for Holmes, too."
Time-trialers Matthew Newland and Silas Griffith finished together in 25:32, followed by Harrison Martingayle (25:47), Steven Cross (26:06) and Paul Stafford (26:25); all within the top-20 times of those who raced.
Phillips' women were instructed to hit pre-determined paces and not worry about racing. They did so in the kind of dominant fashion one would expect from the only nationally ranked team in the field.
Ryan, in her first race since transferring from Villanova edged Skyring by four one-hundredths of a second for the runner-up spot behind High Point's Famke Heinst (18:00.60).
Leading a pack of five Noles, Ryan crossed in 18:02.85, followed by Skyring (18:02.89), Ellie Wallace (18:04.08), Megan Mooney (18:04.44) and Elizabeth Funderburk (18:04.95), salting away the team title.
Even more impressive was the Noles' chase pack. Addi Coggins, in her first cross country race since 2017, was ninth (18:37.63), followed by freshman Rebecca Clark in 10th (18:43.07). Close behind was another wave of Noles, claiming finishing positions 12-15. Kate Bernicke (18:49.10), Kayla Easterly (18:49.14), freshman Ava Peeples (18:50.58) and Erin Phelps (18:56.21) made up that flood of garnet jerseys across the line. Freshman Yasmine Abbes, competing in the longest distance race of her career, was 26th in 19:21.90.
"Overall, I was pleasantly surprised," Phillips said. "They all looked really good. They did the plan and ran comfortably."
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Kasey Knevelbaard 1 24:58.48 4 Caleb Pottorff 4 25:34.43 5 Tyler Dau 5 25:36.37 8 Bert Freire 8 25:56.94 10 Jacob Holmes 10 26:06.15 42 Micah Hilliard 41 27:36.23
Noles Make Progress In Runner-Up Finish To Hokies.
Knevelbaard takes down reigning ACC champ to lead way.
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Graduate transfer Kasey Knevelbaard led the Florida State men's cross country team at Friday's Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational with a runner-up finish, but the host Hokies got the best of the Noles, thanks to a tightly-packed, top-five.
With just 22 seconds separating its top-five finishers, Virginia Tech got out quickly over the rolling course and held on to edge FSU 30-35 on the Buford Meredith course where the ACC Championships will be contested Nov. 1.
"I felt like we competed pretty well," said FSU coach Bob Braman, whose men placed five runners in the top 11 while the Hokies squeezed their top five inside the top 10. "Clearly we're both better than last year, but they're ahead of us right now."
A year ago the Hokies and Noles finished sixth and seventh in a stout field at the ACC Championships, separated by just three points. Virginia Tech's Peter Seufer won the ACC individual title in what amounted to the difference in the outcome.
Knevelbaard got the best of the reigning champ Friday, placing second overall in 24:30.4 over the 8,000-meter course, as East Tennessee State's Ben Varghese rode a big kick to the victory 24:25.9. Seufer was third in 24:44.3, after leading the race - and his teammates - much of the way.
"Kasey looked spectacular," Braman said. "And he's going to get better. I don't know that [Seufer] was as focused on winning the race as he was leading his guys up there."
While the Hokies were claiming positions 3-4-5-8-10, junior transfer Silas Griffith and sophomore Paul Stafford kept the Noles in the hunt. Griffith, who joined the Noles after two seasons at Lipscomb, was sixth in his FSU debut (24:55.6) with Stafford (24:57.0) on his heels in seventh. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Dau turned in his second consecutive strong outing, placing ninth (24:59.3), and sophomore Matthew Newland (25:16.7) finished 11th for FSU's fifth scoring spot.
Steven Cross (14th, 25:34.0) and Caleb Pottorff (16th, 25:39.1) rounded out FSU's top seven. Jacob Holmes was knocked down early in the race and came home in 26th (25:58.3).
In addition to Griffith, Newland and Cross also saw their first race action of the season.
FSU easily outdistanced the rest of the field, which included third place East Tennessee State (81 points) as well as ACC rivals Clemson and Miami, but the loss to the Hokies was even closer than the five-point margin. Virginia Tech's top-five finishers averaged just two seconds a man faster than the Noles' top five.
"If you don't win you're never really all that excited," Braman said, whose disappointment was tempered by the improvement he saw from his team since their Aug. 31 Covered Bridge Open victory. "We've got work to do, but I feel like we got a little bit better from three weeks ago at Appalachian State."
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 2 Kasey Knevelbaard 2 24:30.4 6 Silas Griffith 6 24:55.6 7 Paul Stafford 7 24:57.0 9 Tyler Dau 9 24:59.3 11 Matthew Newland 11 25:16.7 14 Steven Cross 14 25:34.0 16 Caleb Pottorff 16 25:39.1 26 Jacob Holmes 25:58.3
Women Charge To Third At Notre Dame; Men 10th.
FSU women virtually assured trip to NCAA Championships.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The weather and course conditions were perfect and the depth of talent at Friday's Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational all but guaranteed fast times.
Rising to the occasion, the Florida State women's and men's cross country teams delivered performances well above their projected finishes, highlighted by the third-place showing by the No. 17 Noles women.
"I've got to tell you I was a little surprised," said FSU women's coach Kelly Phillips. "I wasn't expecting third, but I'll take it.
"They've been training hard and all the pieces are there, but when it's your first real race it could have gone a lot of different ways and a lot of bad. They went out a little bit harder than I would have liked, but they held it together. It was exciting to watch."
FSU's men finished 10th in the field of 22 teams, defeating No. 13 Colorado State, No. 18 Wyoming and No. 29 Alabama. Grad transfer Kasey Knevelbaard led the way, placing 19th in a personal-best 23:46.04 in his fourth competition on the 5-mile course.
The story of the day, however, was the performance of the Noles women.
Racing for the first time since Aug. 30, the FSU women took down nine nationally ranked opponents, finishing with 129 points and trailing only champion Utah (110 points) and defending NCAA champion Colorado (116). In the process the Noles defeated No. 2 New Mexico, No. 6 Washington and three-time defending ACC champions, No. 8 NC State and No. 9 Wisconsin.
They also counted victories over No. 12 Notre Dame, No. 14 Ole Miss - ranked No. 1 and one spot ahead of the Noles in the South Region - as well as No. 16 Iowa State.
"We came in ranked eighth [among teams in the field] and came away third," said junior Maudie Skyring, who finished 17th (16:41.56) over the 5,000-meter course. "We beat some very, very good teams. This was a big sort of rust-buster for us; our first race against competition. Coming out and seeing where we can be and how we placed in the nation is very exciting. We've got some very big goals now. Top 10 at nationals is definitely achievable for us.
"We're going to go home and put in a lot of work now, because everyone is going to keep getting better."
The performance all but secures the Noles a spot at the NCAA Championships as an at-large team, something Phillips didn't even consider.
"I didn't really think about that, but I'm hoping it doesn't matter," Phillips said. "Last year's goal was to get to nationals and this year's goal is to do well at nationals. They showed today that they mean it."
The Noles women are riding high after recording five of the top 15 times in the history of the program on a course they've competed on since 2000. Jodie Judd (22nd, 16:48.77), Elizabeth Funderburk (23rd, 16:49.47), Addi Coggins (33rd, 16:56.03) and Lauren Ryan (34th, 16:56.61) streamed across the finish line in a meet-best 14.4-second split between the first and fifth finishers.
FSU's first five runners recorded personal-bests for the 5,000-meter cross country distance, as did Ellie Wallace (89th, 17:27.97) and Kate Bernicke (163rd, 17:54.30).
"It was a lot of fun," said Coggins, a redshirt sophomore. "We haven't raced in over a month. We knew we had really good potential and kind of wanted to see where we stacked up with all the other teams. I think we did really well.
"We have really big goals, so to have that confidence and have our top five go under 17 [minutes] shows that we can do what we think we can and kind of gives us a nice little confidence boost moving forward."
Knevelbaard, who was sixth at the meet in 2017 (23:58.5) while running for Southern Utah, was encouraged by the effort put forth by the Noles men.
"For a lot of us it's just the biggest competition of the season so far," he said. "Every races gets a little more important, so if we can just stick our feet in the water and see how it feels, we've got a lot of time and a lot of finish to go.
"For me personally, I've got a lot of fitness to make up and the fact that I'm 15 seconds faster than I have been in the past…I'm feeling a little bit behind and I know I've got a lot of room to grow. It gives me confidence, mixing it up with the top guys here. It's definitely a good stepping stone for us."
Sophomore Paul Stafford was FSU's second finisher, placing 41st (24:10.41), just one spot but 40 seconds faster than his freshman season effort on Notre Dame's Burke Golf Course.
"You can't complain with a 40 second improvement," Stafford said. "Today was definitely the first time that I 100-percent bought-in and just accepted the fact that it was going to hurt; just accepted the game plan Coach Braman gave us.
"I was definitely hurting between miles two and three, but when I got there I knew it was all downhill to the finish."
Six of seven Noles recorded 5-mile cross country personal bests as the team's 24:15 average was the program's fourth-fastest at Notre Dame in their last eight appearances.
Senior Steven Cross (59th, 24:18.23), Caleb Pottorff (70th, 24:26.10) and Silas Griffth (74th, 24:30.29) joined the personal-best parade. Matthew Newland was the Noles' No. 5 finisher (125th, 25:07.7), followed by Tyler Dau (135th, PB 25:21.45) and Jacob Holmes (145th, 25:28.57).
"I thought we ran pretty tough," FSU men's coach Bob Braman said. "We had some challenges and we responded to them. I thought we ran pretty well. We were probably the 14th or 15th team coming in and got 10th place. I like where we are now compared to last year.
"I don't know if we got any at-large points, but we beat some good teams. Our fifth guy was 24:30 and it's kind of hard to be upset about that. We've got to get better. We're going to have to better than we were last year to make nationals."
"Anytime you beat a team like NC State or Washington, teams that are ranked really high, it's exciting," Phillips said. "Like many people say, ... 'It doesn't matter until it really matters.' Yeah, we can walk away and be really excited, but we've got work to do.
"It's going to matter that we do well at Terre Haute in two weeks, and ACCs, but they showed today that they want to be good. That's the important part."
In addition to those competing in the Blue Division (elite) races, a pair of FSU women also shined in the open division competition. Freshman Rebecca Clark placed fourth overall in a personal-best time of 17:22.42, while classmate Ava Peeples was eighth in 17:35.75.
MEN 5-Mile RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 19 Kasey Knevelbaard 19 23:46.04 41 Paul Stafford 41 24:10.41 59 Steven Cross 59 24:18.23 70 Caleb Pottorff 70 24:26.18 77 Silas Griffith 77 24:30.29 129 Matthew Newland 126 25:07.79 138 Tyler Dau 133 25:21.45 145 Jacob Holmes 25:28.57
Noles Women Pile Up PBs At FSU Invitational.
Holmes paces men; Phelps fifth to lead second-place FSU women.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A rare cool morning provided the perfect backdrop for Friday's start of the two-day FSU Cross Country Invitational at Apalachee Regional Park and the collegians took full advantage.
Finishing second overall against a field of 24 scoring teams, the Florida State had four of the top 17 finishers. Fifth-place sophomore Erin Phelps ran a personal-best 5,000-meter time of 17:49.2 to lead the way.
Freshman Yasmine Abbes finished 10th (18:02.3) and was followed by Kayla Easterly (14th, 18:10.10) and Ginelle DeMone (17th, 18:12.8). Sarah Myers rounded out the fifth scoring position in 29th (18:29.7). Abbes, DeMone and Myers joined Phelps on a day filled with personal-best performances by the Noles.
Florida won the team title with 29 points, led by individual winner Jessica Pascoe (17:20.1), with the Noles totaling 63 points. Tampa was third (127), taking home top honors among non-Division I schools.
FSU's women, who raced without the assistance of the top seven headed to Pre-Nationals last weekend, racked up 11 lifetime-best times on the day. That doesn't include sophomore Ella Swigler, who finished third overall while competing unattached (17:46.98).
Among the others breaking through were Sarah Parrish (18:48.8), Nicole McConnell (18:58.1), Rachel Johnson (19:09.5), Ashley David (19:13.0), Kaley Boethig (19:16.4), Mariah Zupan (19:23.6) and Lindsay Boethig (19:48.4).
Like the women, the Seminole men held out their top seven in preparation for next week, and as a result did not field a scoring team.
Jacob Holmes was the first Nole in uniform across the finish line, placing 11th in 25:10.3 over the 8,000-meter course. Micah Hilliard was 84th in the field of 204 finishers (27:10.2).
Florida State graduate student David Barney, who ran for the Noles and remains active in the program, won the individual title in 24:37.1. Florida claimed the team title, edging North Florida 34-37. Embry-Riddle was the top-finishing non-Division I team.
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 11 Jacob Holmes 25:10.3 20 Harrison Martingayle 25:33.4 84 Micah Hilliard 27:10.2
Pre-Nats Performances Send Noles Into Postseason Confident.
Women fifth, men sixth against deep fields at LaVern Gibson Championship
Course.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - With Elizabeth Funderburk and Kasey Knevelbaard delivering the low sticks, the Florida State cross country teams came away from Saturday's Under Armour Pre-National races with strong set-up performances heading into the ACC Championships.
Funderburk finished 11th overall against a field of more than 250 runners, finishing her first 6,000-meter race of the season in 20:29.1, to lead a fifth-place finish for the FSU women. The Noles came into the meet tied for No. 11 in the national rankings and vanquished five ranked teams, including Boise State, with whom they shared the No. 11 ranking. The Broncos finished 12 in the 37-team field.
Racing most of the way with a sizzling lead pack of 20, Knevelbaard finished 15th overall in the 8,000-meter trip around the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, cross under the finish arch in 23:47.3. A tight pack of four Noles finished within six seconds of each other, delivering the FSU men a sixth-place finish which included victories over four nationally squads.
FSU's men came into the meet tied for No. 30 nationally and posted wins over No. 14 Oklahoma State, No. 15 Indiana, No. 27 Arkansas and No. 29 Virginia Tech.
Caleb Pottorff led the Noles' chase pack in 50th place (24:27.0) and was followed by Silas Griffth (59th, 24:30.5), Steven Cross (61st, 24:31.9) and Paul Stafford (65th, 24:33.2).
"We came here and put another strong, committed, mental effort together," said men's coach Bob Braman. "They were committed to each other, running in a pack. 'How long has it been since we've seen that?' A long time.
"I'm really happy with it and proud of the guys. They competed well."
So too did coach Kelly Phillips' women, who finished with 204 points and trailed only No. 8 Washington (84 points), No. 2 BYU (87), No. 3 Colorado (126) and No. 7 Michigan (164).
"I was most encouraged that we didn't get beat by anybody, but we didn't surprise anybody either," Phillips said. "It was a solid day. It wasn't super sexy but it was good. There are a lot of pieces that can do better, but we didn't do anything to spoil it. The top five did their job."
Redshirt sophomore Addi Coggins was the Noles' second finisher, placing 26th in 20:41.8, followed by junior Maudie Skyring (36th, 20:44.9), senior Megan Mooney (57th, 20:59.9) and freshman Rebecca Clark (79th, 21:14.4).
"That was probably the best Funderburk has ever gotten out," Phillips said. "Maudie got out well and struggled a bit in the middle. Addie moved through the pack really, really well.
"Rebecca Clark, I told her it was her first big-girl race, and she did not run like a freshman. She ran like an athlete that was here to compete."
Funderburk, a sophomore, established herself as a contender for postseason honors with a performance that went exactly as she had hoped. In the first 6k race of the season for the women, she became the third different Nole to finish in the top spot on the team, joining Lauren Ryan and Maudie Skyring.
"It was really fun being in that front back, which was my plan," said the Moultrie, Ga. native. "I just wanted to stay with them as long as I could...It went pretty fast. I went through the 5k under 17-flat. This gave me a lot of confidence going into these next two meets; ACCs and Regionals. Going under 20:30 gives me confidence that I can go out faster and hang on."
Knevelbaard, a graduate transfer from Southern Utah, was encouraged by his progress since placing 19th at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational two weeks ago.
"I just wanted to put myself there with the top guys and be a contender," Knevelbaard said. "There were a lot of really good people in the race and I just wanted to hang in there as long as I could. I think it was good progress from Notre Dame...Fifteenth-place here is a good step up from Notre Dame, running about the same time on a harder course."
And while he is the undisputed low stick on the team this season, he was even more encouraged to see his teammates packing up behind him to aid the team effort.
"This was a pretty deep race and pretty top heavy as well," he added. "I think this is a testament to how consistent we've been in workouts and how we work out together as a pack. It was awesome."
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 15 Kasey Knevelbaard 15 23:47.3 50 Caleb Pottorff 50 24:27.0 59 Silas Griffith 59 24:30.5 61 Steven Cross 61 24:31.9 65 Paul Stafford 65 24:33.2 146 Tyler Dau 146 25:16.0 231 Matthew Newland 231 26:20.2
Women Second At ACC Championships, Men Finish Sixth.
Best finish for Noles women since 2013; teams combine for five All-ACC honors.
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Behind a trio of top-10 finishers the 10th-ranked Florida State women's team posted the best ACC Championships finish for the program since their 2013 title, placing second Friday morning at the cold, muddy and wind-swept Buford Meredith Cross Country Course.
With junior Lauren Ryan (sixth), sophomore Elizabeth Funderburk (eighth) and junior Maudie Skyring (10th) leading the way - and earning All-ACC honors - the Noles pushed No. 6 NC State to the wire, with the Wolfpack prevailing 64-76 for their fourth consecutive title.
"I think they had a great day," said fifth-year FSU coach Kelly Phillips. "We weren't supposed to beat NC State. I thought we could and I still think we had a legitimate shot, but they had a good day as well."
The No. 21 Florida State men finished sixth in the 15-team field with grad transfer Kasey Knevelbaard (13th) and sophomore Paul Stafford (17th) turning in All-ACC performances to lead the way. The Noles weren't especially sharp, but their performance was further hindered when Knevelbaard, expected to contend for the individual titles, fell in the first mile of the race and expended a great deal of energy to get back in the mix.
"The main problem for us was I trained us more for regionals and nationals," veteran FSU coach Bob Braman said. "Physically we weren't sharp and that's on me. We trained really hard last week, thinking about nationals and the guys just weren't as sharp as they were two weeks ago.
"I do know that having Kasey goes down hurts you points-wise, but it hurts you emotionally to see your leader go down early in the race as you try to work your way through."
Knevelbaard was running in the front pack when he went down and had trouble getting back on his feet in the field of 134 runners. He was 71st at the mile but climbed all the way to 14th at the 6,000-meter split.
Virginia Tech's Peter Seufer, whom Knevelbaard beat twice during the regular season, successfully defended his title, winning in 23:42.7, Knevelebaard cross the finish line in 24:45.9.
Stafford, who finished 64th as a freshman, stayed in the chase pack from the start and cruised home in 24:51.1.
"It was a great race for Paul Stafford," Braman said. "Other guys like Steven Cross hung in there and fought through. We've got some work to do. We're glad to be going home about the same as we were last year, but really, they weren't sharp and that's on me."
Syracuse edged Notre Dame 68-73 for the team title. Virginia Tech and Virginia totaled 100 points and Wake Forest with fifth with 116 points. The Noles finished with 155 points with senior Steven Cross matching his career-best finish at the meet in 31st place, holding down the third position. Silas Griffith was 39th.
There were no shortage of strong performances for the Seminole women.
Ryan, who hadn't finished in the top spot on the team since the opener, teamed up with Funderburk and Jodie Judd early on, setting the tone for the title contenders.
A transfer from Villanova, where she was sixth as a freshman at the Big East Championships, Ryan and Funderburk traded places throughout the race.
"I sat in a good position the whole race and I was working well with my teammates, Elizabeth and Jodie, at most points during the race," said Ryan. "I was really disappointed with my last performance. I just got in my head mentally. This whole week I've just tried to treat this as a workout. In workouts I'm working with my teammates and I know that my training is there and I'm fit.
"It was just about executing in the race and it worked well being more relaxed and taking it as a workout. I got on the start, put myself in a lot better position than the last time and pulled through with sixth. Happy days."
Funderburk improved seven spots from her 15th-place finish in 2018.
"It was nice having Lauren right there with me," she said. "We were kind of going back and forth. It helped us both finish strong. I was happy with eighth place."
Skyring, took a different route to her first All-ACC honor. Traditionally a fast starter, the junior was running in 35th-place at the mile along with teammates Megan Mooney and Addi Coggins, before turning things up.
"I went out a little bit slower - not that it was completely planned - but it gave me a lot of confidence at the end of the race," she said. "I was catching people the whole way; caught a lot of people the last [kilometer]. I was very motivated. It made me push through the hills. It was a fun way to race. It definitely feels a lot better than being caught."
The 10th-place showing was quite an improvement for Skyring, who was 94th as a freshman and 34th last year.
Judd and Mooney also posted career-best ACC Championship finishes, placing 23rd and 29th, respectively.
That has been a common progression under Phillips, who is now in her fifth season and has followed back-to-back ninth-place finishes by improving on last year's fourth-place showing with a runner-up finish.
"Having the depth has really been fun," said Phillips, who had eight Noles finish among the top 41 finishers. "They are a really good group. They just train really well together. The culture is really good. When the culture is good it makes the coach's job easy. They get each other going."
Coggins (37th) and freshmen Ava Peeples (40th), Rebecca Clark (41st) and Yasmine Abbes (68), along with sophomore Erin Phelps (72nd), rounded out the Noles' 10 entries.
And it was nearly enough to deliver the eighth title in program history.
"We really wanted to get out there today and win," said Skyring. "We didn't get that, unfortunately, but we're all really happy with our performance and how we ran as a team.
"Our goal this season has been to perform well at nationals. This is something we did care about, but our ultimate goal has been the end of the season, so this performance definitely shows that we can do what we want to do."
MEN 8K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 13 Kasey Knevelbaard 13 24:45.9 17 Paul Stafford 17 24:51.1 31 Steven Cross 31 25:11.2 39 Silas Griffith 39 25:18.0 56 Caleb Pottorff 55 25:30.5 65 Jacob Holmes 60 25:38.1 82 Matthew Newland 71 26:06.9 108 Tyler Dau 27:04.9
FSU Women Romp To Region Title; Men Finish Fourth.
Six women, two men earn All-Region honors; men await at-large news.
TALLAHASSEE - The Florida State women's cross country team is heading back to the NCAA Championships in style.
The No. 12 Noles won their second consecutive NCAA South Region title in style on a cool and damp Friday morning at Apalachee Regional Park. Six Noles earned All-Region honors, led by the top-10 trio of Maudie Skyring (fourth), Elizabeth Funderburk (sixth) and Addi Coggins (seventh), as FSU finished with 42 points and a 58-point margin of victory over runner-up and No. 27 Ole Miss.
It is the second-largest margin of victory in the program's history of eight region titles; the bi-product of a nearly perfectly executed race plan.
"The plan was to pack up, which they did early," said fifth-year coach Kelly Phillips. "I was pretty pleased with that. Megan Mooney hasn't been feeling well the past two days and you could tell she was a bit off, but the good part is when you have a team that's deep it's OK for someone to fall off, because they have back-ups. They executed very well."
So well that their 42-point total was the lowest winning score since 2013, when the Noles finished with 35 points and beat runner-up Vanderbilt by a whopping 81-point margin.
"I didn't think we'd be able to have a score that low," Phillips said, after her team secured the 13th NCAA Championships berth in program history, all since 2002. "I knew they were ready to run fast and it's their home course and were excited about it. I was a little surprised it was as low as it was."
Skyring, a junior, led the charge by finishing the 6,000-meter race in 20:21.8, with Funderburk (20:26.1) and Coggins (20:31.7), both sophomores, close behind.
The deciding factor, however, was the supporting cast. Junior Jodie Judd earned her third All-Region honor, placing 12th (20:35.4) with junior transfer Lauren Ryan (15th, 20:38.6) and freshman Rebecca Clark (22nd, 20:42.6) also earning All-Region honors.
Mooney was 30th in 21:03.9, three seconds faster than she was on the same course in 2018 when she placed 18th.
"We looked up at the scoreboard and said, 'Oh, wow. We won,'" Skyring said. "It was very exciting to see how well we did and shows the depth that we have in the program right now. It's very exciting considering the history FSU has and what great teams there have been."
The six All-Region honors are the most for the Noles since the 2012 team, which finished second at the NCAA Championships, landed seven honors.
"We really wanted to really work and stay together as a team, practicing what we're going to put into practice at nationals," Skyring said. "After today we have a lot of confidence. We had six All-Region, which was really impressive.
"Going into next week we have all the confidence we need to achieve our main goal this season, which is to be top-10 in the nation."
While the women were romping to victory, the Seminole men had their hands full against a field which included No. 11 Ole Miss, No. 15 Middle Tennessee State and No. 28 Alabama.
Redshirt sophomore Caleb Pottorff led the way, placing 15th overall in the 10,000-meter field (30:46.4) and was joined on the All-Region team by senior Steven Cross (25th, 31:06.4).
Their efforts not withstanding led the Noles to a 136-point total and a fourth-place finish, behind the ranked trio. Ole Miss won their fourth title in six years - all at Apalachee Regional Park - with 69 points. Middle Tennessee (83) and Alabama (97) were close behind.
"I was happy to do something for the team and be who I was supposed to be and expected to be all year, but at the same time it's frustrating," said Pottorff. "I feel like it's not enough, because we're still not sure where we're going to be."
Coach Bob Braman's team must now await Saturday's NCAA Championship field reveal to learn whether they received one of 13 at-large berths.
"The guys were too hyped up," said Braman. "They went out way too fast and paid the price. We've got to keep our composure better if we're going to be a Top 10 National level program in cross country."
Redshirt freshman Jacob Holmes (29th, 31:16.6) turned in his finest performance of the season to place third on the team, just ahead of Kasey Knevelbaard (34th, 31:25.1) and Silas Griffith (35th, 31:26.1), who rounded out the scorers.
Paul Stafford (37th, 31:27.1) and Matthew Newland (75th, 32:17.6) rounded out the FSU lineup.
"We have an outside chance at an at-large berth," Braman said. "I hope the guys get one more chance. They're certainly fit enough to race next week."
MEN 10K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 15 Caleb Pottorff 15 30:46.4 25 Steven Cross 25 31:06.4 29 Jacob Holmes 29 31:16.6 34 Kasey Knevelbaard 33 31:25.1 35 Silas Griffith 34 31:26.1 37 Paul Stafford 36 31:27.1 75 Matthew Newland 73 32:17.6
Judd, Stafford Pace Improved NCAA Championship Finishes.
Women place 12th, men 29th in miserable race conditions.
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - A cross country season filled with bright spots came to a close at Saturday's NCAA Championships in the rain, mud and near freezing temperatures at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, with Florida State's women and men improving on their 2018 finishes.
The ninth-ranked women placed 12th in the field of 31 team, just 14 points shy of their coveted top-10 finish. Still, it marked a 14-place improvement from last season by a team that will return six of its seven finishers.
The Seminole men, who nabbed the final at-large spot to return to the NCAA Championships for the 14th time in 17 years, finished 29th overall. Sophomore Paul Stafford led the way, placing 71st in the 10,000-meter race (31:41.1); a 122-place improvement on his 2018 performance.
"We wanted a top-eight, but the reality of it is we were coming from 26th," fifth-year women's coach Kelly Phillips said. "It was a huge jump and an awesome season. It's going to be a hard season to repeat because it was such a fun season.
"They all ran solid, but other than Jodie Judd and Rebecca Clark, nobody was amazing."
Judd became the fifth different runner to lead the Noles in six major races this season, placing 62nd overall in the 6,000-meter race. The junior crossed the finish line in 21:01.5 on a day when the weather conditions clearly impacted the racing.
Close behind were junior Maudie Skyring (69th, 21:04.5) and freshman Rebecca Clark (76th, 21:06.6), who authored her second consecutive breakthrough performance. Clark was the eighth freshman in the entire field.
Sophomore Elizabeth Funderburk (101st, 21:16.5) and redshirt sophomore Addi Coggins (112th, 21:19.4) rounded out the scoring five, separated by only 18 seconds. Junior Lauren Ryan (114th, 21:20.0) and senior Megan Mooney (121st, 21:38.8) accounted for the final finishing positions.
Despite the tightly-packed finish and a hard charge over the final 4,000 meters, the Noles could not quite overcome a slow start. FSU moved up from 15th place after 2,000 meters but could not climb further up the standings, despite continuing to pick off runners through the finish.
"Going out it felt like a really fast pace," Skyring said. "My legs were super cold and it did not feel good. I knew I just had to work my way up. I really had no idea where I was in the race. It was so chaotic…I'm very disappointed. It's not what I wanted."
Phillips, however, was not disappointed.
"Funderburk and Skyring didn't have the races they've had all year, and that hurt a little bit, but Jodie had a better race than she's had," she said, as did Clark. "So it went both ways."
Stafford saved the day for the Noles men, who were trying to avoid a second consecutive 31st-place showing. He was 102 spots in front of his nearest teammate, Kasey Knevelbaard (173rd, 32:37.5). Steven Cross (179th, 32:43.7), Silas Griffith (204th, 33:03.8) and Caleb Pottorff (207th, 33:14.3) accounted for the rest of the scoring five. Jacob Holmes (216th, 33: 33.7) and Matthew Newland (234th, 34:13.0) rounded out the lineup.
"You look at it in retrospect and if we were a little bit tougher we're probably 25th," Braman said. "But we were picked for 31 and we didn't get 31, so that was something.
"Paul gets the credit for that. He ran really, really well. When your guy who runs No. 6 at the region meet gets 71st place you start thinking, 'What are we maxed out capable of?' Well, if they all run with Paul we're probably top-10."
Stafford positioned himself well in the first half of the race and moved through the pack well over the second half.
"It was just a matter of feeling as relaxed as you could through 5k," said Stafford, whose goal was to finish in the top 100. "There were a lot of bodies around; definitely more than you're ever used to. It was just taking advantage of those, then seeing those dead bodies come back to you the last 5k of the race and just latching on to a pack.
"I don't remember what [kilometer] mark it was, but coach just yelled at me, '67, 67' and 30 yards later I see Trevor [Dunbar] and he's yelling, '99.' He was just trying to get me going, but it really helped."
Braman
summed up the day this way:
"The story is, these are the most miserable conditions I've ever been at because there's all the elements - cold, rain and mud - and there's no way for a Tallahassee
team to prepare for that. That shows you how good the women's team is; how well they did under those equally horrid conditions.
"The fun side of this is we're really looking forward to two years from now."
Florida State will host the 2021 NCAA Championships at Apalachee Regional Park.
MEN 10K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 71 Paul Stafford 61 31:41.1 173 Kasey Knevelbaard 142 32:37.5 179 Steven Cross 148 32:43.7 204 Silas Griffith 170 33:03.8 207 Caleb Pottorff 173 33:14.2 216 Jacob Holmes 182 33:33.7 234 Matthew Newland 198 34:13.0