2018 Women's Cross Country - Year In Review
Kelly Phillips, Head Coach
David Beauchem, Director of Operations
Alex Midgett, Volunteer Assistant
Click here to see individual mug shots
2018 Women's Cross Country - Year In Review | |
| Coaching Staff Kelly Phillips, Head Coach David Beauchem, Director of Operations Alex Midgett, Volunteer Assistant Click here to see individual mug shots |
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2018 Roster - By Name
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T PY
R Name Hgt Cl Ltr Hometown (Prior School)
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Kelly Aponte Jr Saint Augustine (Saint Augustine)
Mackenzie Baysinger Sr Rockledge (Rockledge)
Kate Bernicke So Avon, Ind. (Avon)
Julia Blankenbaker So Wesley Chapel (Wiregrass Ranch/Nova Southeastern)
Sarah Candiano Sr *** Fort Myers (Evangelical Christian)
Elizabeth Cobb Jr-R Winter Springs (Winter Springs)
Addi Coggins So * Franklin, Tenn. (Independence)
Margaret Copello Fr Pembroke Pines (Pembroke Pines Charter)
Alivia Davis Fr Jacksonville (Stanton)
Ginelle DeMone Jr Leduc, Alberta, Canada (Leduc Composite)
* Kayla Easterly Fr-R North Fort Myers (North Fort Myers)
* Elizabeth Funderburk Fr Moultrie, Ga. (Colquitt County)
Mollie Golicher Sr Tampa (Wharton/Wofford)
Madison Harris Sr-R * Ochlockonee Bay (Wakulla)
Hailey Hendry Jr * Brentwood, Tenn. (Brentwood)
* Althea Hewitt Sr * Cocoa Beach (Cocoa Beach)
Claire Hooker Jr Fort Collins, Colo. (Fort Collins)
Fatema Jaffer Sr *** Longwood (Lake Mary)
Elizabeth Jenkins So * Maitland (Winter Park)
* Jodie Judd So * Essex, England (The King John Sixth Form)
Eliana Karr Jr-R Winter Springs (Winter Springs)
Macy Kissel Fr Oakland, N.J. (Indian Hills)
Katie Kuhn Jr Winter Park (Winter Park)
Anna Lewis Fr Tallahassee (Maclay)
* Jenn Lima So Palm Beach (East Lake)
Jessica Lonas Sr * Sarasota (Riverview)
Nicole McConnell Fr Coral Springs (Coral Springs)
* Militsa Mircheva Sr * Dobrich, Bulgaria (FSG Vasil Levski)
* Megan Mooney Jr ** Thornton, Colo. (Horizon)
Sarah Myers So-R Ormond Beach (Seabreeze)
Sidney Oakes-Lottridge Fr-R Fort Myers (Fort Myers)
Sarah Parrish Fr Charlotte, N.C. (Providence)
Erin Phelps Fr Tallahassee (Chiles)
Alondra Reyna-Lopez Fr LaBelle (LaBelle)
* Maudie Skyring So * Wollonong, Australia (Illawarra Grammar/Wollonong)
Kaia Stevenson Fr Panama City Beach (Arnold)
Ella Swigler Fr Lynn Haven (Mosley)
Micaela Torres So Tampa (King)
* Ellie Wallace Fr-R Bristol, England (Redland/San Francisco)
Emma Jane Warren Fr Fernandina Beach (Bishop Kenny)
Julianna Zagra Jr Orlando (Olympia)
Mariah Zupan So Clearwater (Clearwater)
Melissa Zyla Sr Fairfield, N.J. (West Essex)
2018 Conference Awards
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Elizabeth Funderburk Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
Militsa Mircheva Atlantic Coast Conference - All-Conference
All-Conference - 2
2018 All-Americans
Name Organization
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Militsa Mircheva NCAA - All-American - 25th place
All-Americans - 1
2018 Schedule and Results
GAME |
SCORE |
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| Covered Bridge Open Boone, N.C. |
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| Boston | |||||
| Mountain Dew Invitational Gainesville, Fla. |
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| Notre Dame Invitational Notre Dame, Ind. |
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| UAB Blazer Classic Montevallo, Ala. |
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| Wisconsin Pre-Nationals Madison, Wis. |
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| Georgia College Invitational Milledgeville, Ga. |
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| ACC Championship Boston, Mass. |
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| NCAA South Region Championship | |||||
| NCAA Championship Madison, Wis. |
EOY StatsRef Overall Home Away Neutral ------------------------------------------------ FSU record is 1- 0 0- 0 1- 0 0- 0
2018 Atlantic Coast Conference Results 1 North Carolina State 67 2 Notre Dame 68 3 Syracuse 83 4 Florida State 128 5 Virginia Tech 161 6 Duke 179 7 Georgia Tech 184 8 Wake Forest 195 9 Virginia 230 10 Boston College 291 11 Clemson 294 12 North Carolina 294 13 Pittsburgh 320 14 Louisville 324 15 Miami 497
2018 EOY Stats
Team Overall Name Races Top 7 Top 10 Wins =============================================== Militsa Mircheva 7 7 5 3 Elizabeth Funderburk 7 7 3 0 Maudie Skyring 7 7 2 0 Megan Mooney 7 7 1 0 Althea Hewitt 7 5 2 0 Jenn Lima 7 5 0 0 Jodie Judd 6 6 1 0 Ellie Wallace 4 4 1 0 Kayla Easterly 4 2 1 0 Sarah Candiano 4 2 0 0 Fatema Jaffer 4 1 0 0 Hailey Hendry 3 3 1 0 Kate Bernicke 3 3 0 0 Ella Swigler 2 2 1 0 Sarah Myers 2 2 1 0 Erin Phelps 2 2 0 0 Micaela Torres 2 1 0 0 Sarah Parrish 2 1 0 0 Katie Kuhn 2 1 0 0 Elizabeth Jenkins 2 0 0 0 Elizabeth Cobb 2 0 0 0 Claire Hooker 2 0 0 0 Sidney Oakes-Lottridge 2 0 0 0 Anna Lewis 2 0 0 0 Julia Blankenbaker 2 0 0 0 Mackenzie Baysinger 2 0 0 0 Ginelle DeMone 1 0 0 0 Jessica Lonas 1 0 0 0 Alondra Reyna-Lopez 1 0 0 0 Kaia Stevenson 1 0 0 0 Nicole McConnell 1 0 0 0 Eliana Karr 1 0 0 0 Mariah Zupan 1 0 0 0
Mircheva Defends, Pottorff Wins Debut; Noles Sweep Opener.
Women, men pack up for 10th team titles in 18th Covered Bridge opener.
BOONE, N.C. – Successfully defending her title, senior Militsa Mircheva led a meet-clinching, 1-2-3 finish for the Florida State women, while redshirt freshman Caleb Pottorff’s winning debut was pacing the tightly-knight Seminole men to victory at Friday’s Covered Bridge Open.
By effectively executing similar race plans, the Seminole women and men came away from their traditional season-opener with their 10th team titles in their 18th appearance at the meet in the last 19 years.
A 30-minute lightening delay was merely preempting a dominant effort by the women, who were packing up according to coach Kelly Phillips’ instruction. Pulling away on the climb at the two-mile mark, Mircheva came racing home in 16:50.25, lopping a few seconds off her 2017 winning time (16:53.2) over 5000 meters. It was the sixth consecutive win by an FSU woman at the meet, and also the fastest by a Seminole around Kennedy Trails.
“For me it was really important to help the group stick together and kind of do a good workout,” Mircheva said. “I’m happy about my race.”
Heralded freshman Elizabeth Funderburk’s collegiate debut was no less rousing as the Colquitt County High standout’s transitioning 17:03.80 was not only her fastest 5k, but good for second place. Sophomore Maudie Skyring’s third-place showing (17:29.44) was more than a minute faster than her best over the same distance last year.
“I wasn’t really nervous just because it’s a pretty small race,” Funderburk said. “I’m glad I got to start out with a race like this and be surrounded by my teammates for most of the race. That definitely made it feel more comfortable…
“That was amazing. In high school I never had a chance to experience that. This is really fun having such a good team.”
The Seminoles’ second wave of finishers was equally impressive. Less than three seconds were separating redshirt freshman Kayla Easterly (18:01.99), Sarah Candiano (18:03.29), Megan Mooney (18:03.34) and Hailey Hendry (18:04.20), who were occupying finishing spots 10-13.
“They all stuck to their plan; they ran with their packs and looked really good and comfortable,” Phillips said. “The majority of them still ended up running faster than they did a year ago…
“Militsa ran really under control. She was never in trouble. And Elizabeth Funderburk, she is just going to keep getting better. That was a really good race. Maudie is fit and she looked tremendous.”
The Noles were 27-32 winners over host Appalachian State, the defending Southern Conference champions, with the two teams accounting for 14 of the top 15 finishing spots in the nine-team field.
“That’s what is going to make a difference at the end of the season, if we can keep that pack mentality throughout the season when it actually gets tougher we’ll be good,” said Phillips, whose women stuck three more in the top 20 and had 12 of 13 finishers in the top 26 against a field of 95 finishers.
“This year we have a goal to make nationals, so having your teammates right behind you is really encouraging,” Mircheva said. With Braman deploying only six men for the race, the strategy was to stick together through two miles before accelerating to the top of the ridge and the three-mile mark before bringing home to the finish at 8000 meters.
Mission accomplished.
Pottorff, competing for the first time in cross country since winning Florida Gatorade Performer of the Year honors as a high school senior in the fall of 2016, had no shortage of dance partners in garnet as the plan was unfolding.
With Toby Hardwick, a redshirt senior making his FSU cross country debut, and senior Istvan Szogi in tow, they broke the field on the descent en route to authoring a 1-2-4 finish. Pottorff was the winner in 25:12.20 with Hardwick second in 25:15.40 and Szogi fourth in 25:32.63.
Redshirt sophomore Bert Freire (25:48.20), Tyson Murray (25:56.66) and Tyler Dau (26:09.17) put the finishing touches on a surprising wide 26-41 margin over the host Appalachian State men, placing seventh, 13th and 19th, respectively.
“I was real pleased,” FSU men’s coach Bob Braman said. “It was a lot faster than last year, but last year was a bit sloppier. I didn’t think anybody would run under 25:30 and we had two under that and three right at it. We wanted to see some development from the guys who have been working hard, trying to move up a level. Ty Murray and Bert [Freire] were really good today.”
“They did exactly what they were supposed to do.”
Using a strong kick over the final 400 meters was the difference between Pottorff and Hardwick; perhaps the residual effect of a sitting out a redshirt season.
“Following the plan, controlling the first two miles, working the hill and then coming back strong, everything fell into place perfectly,” Pottorff said. “Just knowing two years ago was my last cross country race, it’s rewarding knowing all the work pays off.”
And having teammates all pulling together was certainly no small part of the pay off.
“The other big benefit, and you saw this from the women as well, was the kids were working together,” Braman added. “You felt like they were a team.”
“We’ve got a bunch of brothers out there running together,” Pottorff said. “Turning and seeing Toby next to me and Isti just behind us; it’s a big group of buds working together all for the same goal.”
Hardwick concurred.
“We’ve just been grinding all summer, trying to get the strength in,” said the Iowa State transfer, who joined the men’s distance program in January. “We wanted to execute and pull each other along…We wanted to get all six in the top 10, but 1-2-4 was OK with me.
“We’ve really developed as a team and as a friendship. We’ll do anything for each other and when it comes to racing, the terms don’t change.”
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Militsa Mircheva 1 16:50.25 2 Elizabeth Funderburk 2 17:03.80 3 Maudie Skyring 3 17:29.44 10 Kayla Easterly 10 18:01.99 11 Sarah Candiano 11 18:03.29 12 Megan Mooney 12 18:03.34 13 Hailey Hendry 13 18:04.20 16 Jenn Lima 18:10.40 18 Althea Hewitt 18:17.94 19 Fatema Jaffer 18:28.13 22 Ginelle DeMone 18:36.26 31 Elizabeth Jenkins 18:55.71
Pottorff, Mircheva Roll In ACC Dry Run At Franklin Park.
Vets, youth alike contribute to cross country wins over Boston University.
BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Militsa Mircheva and redshirt freshman Caleb Pottorff remained unbeaten on the season and so did the Florida State women’s and men’s cross country teams after rolling past Boston University at Franklin Park on Friday morning.
The Seminoles turned in a dominant performance against the host Terriers, which was secondary to their primary objective of getting in a strong workout and a good look at the 104-year course which will host the ACC Championships on Oct. 26.
Mircheva cruised to her fifth career victory in two seasons with the Noles, covering the 5000-meter course in 17:19.41, while Funderburk, a freshman, was second overall for the second consecutive win in 17:50.46.
FSU’s women claimed the first five positions, pitching a scoring shutout of the Terriers, 15-42.
Teammates Megan Mooney (18:41.04), Ellie Wallace (19:01.59) and Althea Hewitt (19:09.31) followed in positions 3-5, but the Noles’ dominance would have been even greater if not for a group of five getting lost on the course.
Maudie Skyring, Fatema Jaffer, Kayla Easterly, Sarah Candiano and Jennifer Lima were running in a chase pack behind their top two teammates heading into the final mile, but took a wrong turn on an unmarked section of the course. That “little snafu” according to FSU women’s coach Kelly Phillips likely prevented the Noles from pushing the first 10 runners across the finish line.
The wrong turn added approximately four-tenths of a mile to their race, based on their Garmin watches, adding as much a 80-90 seconds to their finishing times.
“I saw things from a few people – Candiano, Lima and Jaffer – that I hadn’t seen yet, especially for Candiano and Jaffer, our seniors,” Phillips said. “Through the two-mile they looked fantastic. It’s a shame for them because no one gets to see how well they’re running. I felt sorry for them, but hopefully it will motivate them to keep going…
“We’re a pretty deep team. I don’t think today’s results on paper will show what we are. Watching Maudie, even though she got lost, as aggressive as she was being irritated, was really good.”
The Seminole women trained through the meet, logging a pair of hard workouts prior to race day, which left a number of the runners a little flat, according to Phillips, who was fine with that.
Mircheva was not one of them, though she was also dealing with an illness earlier in the week.
“I felt pretty good the first two miles, but I was probably a little bad that last mile,” said the Bulgarian native, who hopes to improve on her sixth-place finish at the 2017 ACC Championships when the meet returns to Boston next month.
“That’s an amazing experience because knowing the course is probably like 30 or 40 percent of the success to run well on it, especially when the course is challenging…Being able to run it in advance was great.”
Mircheva also liked what she saw of her tightly packed teammates.
“We did a pretty good job even though some of the girls got lost,” she added.
Pottorff seized control of the race by accelerating away from Boston’s Paul Luevano, an NCAA Cross Country Championships qualifier last season, just beyond the two-mile mark over the 8000-meter course.
The Fort Pierce, Fla. native powered to the finish in 24:58.42 for a comfortable 16-second margin of victory. Pottorff was one of three FSU freshmen – joining Paul Stafford and Matthew Newland – to finish among the Noles’ top five.
Junior Steven Cross, making his season debut, was third overall in 25:20.60. It was Cross’ finest performance since a strong freshman season. Stafford was fourth (25:25.41) and Newland was seventh (25:33.59) in their collegiate debuts, sandwiching senior teammate Istvan Szogi (sixth, 25:32.27).
With all seven FSU finishers among the first nine across the line, the Noles cruised to a 21-40 victory over the fifth-ranked team in the Northeast Region.
“I like that we were dialed in,” Braman said of the overall performace. “We knew that this needed to be an ACC rehearsal, and we knew that Boston U. had some good guys. One of them didn’t have a very good day but the other two ran really well, like we knew they would. If you have three of them up there, all of a sudden this race is a lot different.
“I even told my 6-7-8 guys that whatever pace they set we’ve got to match that intensity. ‘Let’s get out fast and run this thing, because when we come back for the ACC meet it’s much more applicable for us to have come out here and hurt a little bit.’”
Pottorff liked the way the day played out, both for himself, and his teammates.
“I just kind of went with the race and the feel of it,” he said. “There was a good point in there where I could make my move after two miles and just kept moving along and it seemed to work.
“Right now I kind of feel like my training has kind of put me in the best spot, compared to last year. Physically and mentally I’m tougher than last year and I’m just ready for a longer season and battling with everybody and building our team goal of making it to nationals.”
“He looked really good,” Braman said of Pottorff. “He’s so strong and his form didn’t break down. It was one of those things where he said, ‘Excuse me. I’m sorry you told me to stay behind this BU guy, but I’m going to go now.’ … That was good to see.”
So was the way things played out behind Pottorff’s victory.
“It’s awesome to see [Cross] come back,” Pottorff said of his one-time high school rival. “I know he’s struggled a little bit since his freshman year and seeing him today get his groove back - knowing that once he gets it going - he’s a beast and he’s going to be up there with myself and Isty and Toby, when he comes back.”
The Noles ran without senior Toby Hardwick, who was left at home rehabbing in hopes of a return at Notre Dame in two weeks. In his absence, the youngsters shined.
“I love it right now,” Pottorff added. “We’ve got a young group and our freshmen are stepping up. It’s awesome to see them grow…It’s awesome to see that we’re all together and we’ve definitely got a bright future ahead of us.”
Braman concurred.
“The big thing was we got a great race out of Steven Cross,” Braman added. “Like Coach Kelly [Phillips] said, ‘Welcome back.’ It was good to see. He wasn’t having a perfect day. He had to come back from behind; he and Isty [Szogi] were back in the 4-5 hole and came all the way up to second place until the very end. Isty was going through some struggles, but he fought it instead of throwing in the towel.
“I felt like it was a perfect rehearsal and the great thing was that people found themselves in highly successful rates. Paul Stafford doesn’t know what he’s doing over 8k, but he did a great job. Matthew Newland doesn’t know what he’s doing over 8k, and he probably learned something today that will have him finishing with Paul instead of eight or 10 seconds behind him.
“That’s what you want to see. You want to see some fight, some execution and you want to learn something. I think we checked all three of those boxes.”
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Militsa Mircheva 1 17:19.41 2 Elizabeth Funderburk 2 17:50.65 3 Megan Mooney 3 18:41.04 4 Ellie Wallace 4 19:01.59 5 Althea Hewitt 5 19:09.31 9 Maudie Skyring 9 19:33.82 13 Hailey Hendry 13 19:37.46 15 Fatema Jaffer 19:48.46 16 Kayla Easterly 19:50.54 20 Sarah Candiano 20:06.72 21 Jenn Lima 20:09.73
Judd, Hewitt Set Pace In Strong Mt. Dew Performance.
Noles register nine personal-bests; place third overall.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – It wasn’t surprising to see Florida State’s Jodie Judd and Althea Hewitt leading the women’s cross country team around the Mark Bostick Golf Course Saturday morning. Seminoles’ coach Kelly Phillips expected the veterans to show the way.
What she wasn’t expecting anticipating was the number of personal-best 5000-meter performances recorded by the vast majority of FSU’s developmental group, which translated into a third-place finish from a field of 27 teams competing at the Mountain Dew Invitational.
Judd, completing her first competition since the 2018 indoor season, finished seventh overall (17:24.9). Hewitt, who volunteered to compete after she was disappointed with her performance last week in Boston, was 12th overall in a new lifetime-best of 17:34.4.
“I’m so glad I did,” said Hewitt, a senior who ran four minutes faster on the same course as a freshman member of the Noles’ developmental group. “There is no comparison with how I felt today and how I felt at Boston…I felt really good today.
“It was really inspiring to see Jodie up ahead and kind of see the lead group and work up toward them.”
Hewitt’s improvement throughout her career, is inspiring to many of the Noles who made up the group of 20 competing Saturday morning; nine of whom established new personal-bests to go along with three additional collegiate-best performances.
“I like how they all followed the race plan; ran really tough in the middle,” Phillips said. “Kate Bernicke was my biggest surprise. She didn’t seem to come into the season as focused at first and today was definitely a game-changer. She ran fantastic.
“There were a lot of really good things; really good racing and really good teamwork. It was fun to see that many PRs.”
Redshirt freshman Ellie Wallace was 25th (17:59.4) in her second race with the Noles; also a major improvement on last week’s effort at Franklin Park in Boston. She was followed by a pack dominated by first- and second-year Noles.
Freshman Erin Phelps whacked nearly 30 seconds off her previous best for 5000 meters, placing 36th in 18.19.0. Bernicke, a sophomore, was 46th with a new collegiate-best of 18:34.2.
“The conditions were great and the coaches have been training us well, so I think we were all ready to run our best today,” said Bernicke. “Usually when I race I tend to die a little bit. Today I started out a little more conservative and I was able to pick it up and pick people off at the end.”
With all five scorers in, FSU’s total of 122 points trailed only host Florida (80) and North Florida (102), both of whom raced their top athletes. Florida A&M finished fourth (153).
“It felt really good,” Phelps said. “I was trying to focus on staying with the other FSU girls, keeping them within my sight, and just racing.”
The Noles did a good job of that across the board, coming across the finish line in bunches.
Among those with personal-bests on the day were freshman Ella Swigler (51st, 18:39.7), sophomore Sarah Myers (62nd, 18:50.2) and junior Elizabeth Cobb (80th, 19:04.5). Sophomore Micaela Torres recorded a collegiate-best of 18:50.7 (64th), as did junior Claire Hooker (19:32.4, 108th).
Freshmen Alondra Reyna-Lopez (115th, 19:45.6), Anna Lewis (149th, 20:22.1), Kaia Stevenson (150th, 20:22.7) and Julian Blankenbaker (153rd, 20:25.4) rounded out the personal-bests on the day.
Hewitt was genuinely excited to see the progress of her younger teammates.
“It’s awesome because that’s where I was two years ago, so it’s really good to see them improving, getting up to where they want to be and setting goals,” she said.
“Althea is someone I look up to on the team because she started out [like many of us] and made her way up to the top group,” Bernicke said. “That’s something I want to do in my time at Florida State. She’s really an inspiration to me that way.”
She wasn’t alone, at least not through the eyes of Phillips.
“As a whole we’re getting deeper and better,” Phillips said. “Our middle of the pack is getting a lot better. And they’re just a much better cohesive team. It’s fun to see the fire in their eyes. There’s no pecking order yet, so they’re all trying to make it and that’s fun to see.
“Our freshmen did a great job today.”
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 7 Jodie Judd 7 17:24.86 10 Althea Hewitt 10 17:34.35 20 Ellie Wallace 20 17:59.31 28 Erin Phelps 28 18:18.91 32 Kate Bernicke 32 18:34.14 36 Ella Swigler 36 18:39.65 41 Sarah Myers 41 18:50.15 42 Micaela Torres 18:50.64 43 Elizabeth Jenkins 18:51.02 53 Elizabeth Cobb 19:04.47 55 Sarah Parrish 19:07.90 65 Jessica Lonas 19:28.40 66 Katie Kuhn 19:29.12 69 Claire Hooker 19:32.38 72 Alondra Reyna-Lopez 19:45.52 80 Sidney Oakes-Lottridge 19:54.33 92 Anna Lewis 20:22.06 93 Kaia Stevenson 20:22.61 95 Julia Blankenbaker 20:25.40 110 Mackenzie Baysinger 21:20.58
Women Take Down Two Ranked Teams; Youth Lead Men.
Noles XC women finish third at Piane Invitational; Men place seventh.
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – With Militsa Mircheva and Elizabeth Funderburk leading the charge, followed closely by a rapidly-improving pack, the Florida State women’s cross country team knocked off two nationally ranked teams with a third-place at Friday’s Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational.
The Noles’ depth paid off as they placed five runners in the top 37 to finish with 113 points, edging No. 22 Notre Dame (114) and handling No. 21 California. In addition to the host Irish, coach Kelly Phillips’ squad also finished in front of ACC foes Duke (fifth, 180) and Clemson (10th, 267).
BYU, ranked 11th nationally, won with 37 points, followed by No. 12 Furman (80).
“I’m super pleased with how they ran,” Phillips said. “They were confident and they all raced really well. We still have a lot of work to do, but I think they’re walking away from here realizing that they’re a pretty solid team.
“It’s nice to walk away from a big meet finally [saying], ‘Ok, we’re getting some things done.’ Now the next couple of meets are what really matters.”
Mircheva and Funderburk finished 10th and 11th, respectively, in 17:03.8 and 17:05.2, but the difference proved to be the pack of Maudie Skyring (27th, 17:26.3) Megan Mooney (28th, 17:28.4) and Jodie Judd (37th, 17:39.1). Judd finished one spot – and 1.5 seconds – in front of Notre Dame’s No. 4 runner to secure the victory.
“Mooney always runs well on this course,” Phillips said. “And Maudie is in such better shape than she was a year ago. She started to fade and Mooney came up on her and I think seeing her kind of got them fired up to run together. That made a huge difference and they really came on strong at the end.”
Judd, racing just six days after leading FSU’s developmental group at the Mountain Dew Invitational, put together another solid performance as she continues to rebound from an illness which sidelined her the entire 2018 outdoor track & field season. “She’s getting there; back-to-back weekends [racing],” Phillips added. “We’re making progress in her training. I think if we can keep moving forward like we are, by the time regionals come she can be back with the other two.”
Close behind them was sophomore Jen Lima, who finished 66th in 18:00.17. Of the top six, Funderburk, Skyring and Lima all recorded personal-best times for 5000 meters.
“Honestly I think Lima could have been up with Mooney, she just doesn’t know it,” said Phillips. “She wants to know it, but she just doesn’t true in her heart believe it yet. Hitting those times for her still catches her off guard.”
Of course, Mircheva and Funderburk, who finished 1-2 in each of FSU’s first two meets, were once again out in front of the group. Mircheva was sixth with 1000 meters to go and was nearly reeled in by her freshman teammate, Funderburk.
“She was fantastic,” Phillips said of Funderburk. “I think when she saw Militsa at the end right there it shocked her a little bit. To run that kind of time as a freshman…She’s just such a smooth runner. She’s done such a great job and she’s so consistent.”
Funderburk was pleased as well, especially after getting her first taste of big-time competition.
“I’m happy with my result,” said the Moultrie, Ga. native, who was the second freshman across the finish line. “It was a pretty solid time…
“It was really exciting to know that I’m helping to contribute to this too; having such a good year so far. It’s really fun being a part of a good team, finishing third against a pretty good field. I’m excited for the rest of this season because I feel like we’ve got a lot of improvements we can make and keep getting better.”
As important as Funderburk’s arrival has been to the Noles’ improvement, the development of Skyring, among others, has been equally important. The sophomore from Australia was nearly a minute faster than a year ago at the same meet to lead the second wave of FSU runners.
“I was really excited to see my time,” Skyring said. “I shaved off almost a minute. I did the same at Boone so I was pretty confident coming in. Also, our team did really well today, coming away third. We wanted a top-five finish, so coming in third, we’re really happy with that.
“Going into Wisconsin we can really work on continuing to improve as a team. Jodie ran really well, then we were in little packs. It was really nice to see teammates all around you and work together.”
Youngsters Lead Seventh-Place Men.
Youth abounds on the Florida State men’s roster and on Friday, it also led the way to a seventh-place finish. Three freshmen were among the first four Noles across the finish line, once again led by redshirt Caleb Pottorff.
Pottorff was 23rd overall, covering the five-mile course in 24:26.56, and followed by fast-closing junior teammate Steven Cross. Cross continued his racing renaissance, placing 32nd in 24:38.83.
“It was definitely an experience, coming from the smaller meets at Boston and Covered Bridge to showing up at this race with 150-plus runners and a couple nationally ranked teams,” said Pottorff, who was running with the front pack early on. “Overall I have a lot to take away from it and a lot of room to improve, but I’m very pleased with how the race went.”
Second-ranked BYU was the class of the field, winning with a scant 23 points. Wyoming (105), Notre Dame (119), No. 28 Furman (140) and Weber State (189) rounded out the top five. The Noles came up five points shy of Dayton (207) in seventh with 212.
And though the Noles fell two spots shy of a top-five finish goal, men’s coach Bob Braman wasn’t unhappy with the effort of a group which included six of nine starters racing around the Burke Golf Course for the first time.
“We’re competing hard, but I think we’re losing a little bit of that focus and intensity of, ‘Ok, at this point in the race, I have to really, really make sure that I’m staying on this pack. I can’t let this pack get away from me,’” Braman said. “We’ve got to fix that. If we do, I think we’re potentially a top-five ACC team and potentially an [NCAA] bubble team.”
Cross’ return to freshman season form, and better, will be key to turning potential into reality.
“I was really happy with the way I raced the second half of the race. I don’t know if I have my full confidence back,” Cross said. “I think it’s getting there, but I need to get my edge back, my swagger back, a little bit and race more confidently early on.
“I just need to put myself in a better position, because I was feeling good enough in the second half of the race that I should have been in a much better spot to work harder and get closer to the top 10, or top 15. I was so far back and I kind of just little myself slip. I zoned myself in and had to work to even get up to where I was today. It was definitely a huge step forward.”
Braman praised the performance of true freshman Paul Stafford, who positioned himself inside the top 50 early and fought to stay there, ultimately coming home 44th (24:50.14). Classmate Matthew Newland took a more measured approach to the early stages of the race and mounted a strong rally to finish 58th (25:02.39).
“Paul and Matt ran really well,” Cross said of the youngsters. “It’s pretty overwhelming for them, I’m sure. It’s a much bigger field and much more competitive field than they’ve ever raced in. They handled it well. We all didn’t run quite as well as we wanted to, but with everything taken into to consideration, we can’t complain too much.
“They didn’t crumble. They ran hard and competed. Overall, I think we did well for Florida State, especially compared to the last few years here.”
Redshirt junior Tyson Murray was FSU’s No. 5 scorer, registering a 5-mile personal-best (25:06.96) to place 64th.
“Ty’s got a massive head cold and comes out here and PBs,” Braman said. “I like the way he ran. Here’s Ty having to hold the fort at No. 4 between three miles and 400 meters to go. Ty is a leader that way. He could see that not only was he running well, but that we needed him to hold the fort.
“Seventh place is a decent effort. We beat some good teams. There are a lot more disappointed coaches at this meet than Bob Braman.”
WOMEN 5K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 10 Militsa Mircheva 10 17:03.73 11 Elizabeth Funderburk 11 17:05.15 27 Maudie Skyring 27 17:26.29 28 Megan Mooney 28 17:28.31 37 Jodie Judd 37 17:39.01 66 Jenn Lima 65 18:00.17 109 Kayla Easterly 104 18:35.99 133 Fatema Jaffer 19:01.66 148 Sarah Candiano 19:27.50
Late Pack Surge Delivers XC Men UAB Title.
Pottorff, Cross pace victory; Wallace leads women to fourth-place finish.
MONTEVALLO, Ala. – Florida State’s five-hour trek to get out of Hurricane Michael’s path and squeeze in a final tune-up before the cross country postseason turned into a cross-town battle at Friday’s UAB Blazer Classic.
The Seminole men, No. 5 in the most recent South Region rankings, and No. 6 Florida A&M squared off in a head-to-head battle that wasn’t decided until the final kilometer.
“It was an 850 dogfight,” FSU men’s coach Bob Braman said. “We were up there looking good at the 2k and probably even or a little behind at the 4k. They had five runners in front of our No. 3 at about 6k and we did not catch them until the last 1,000 meters and just kind of rolled them up in the end.”
Caleb Pottorff and Steven Cross finished second and fourth, respectively, but it was the late-race surge of Istvan Szogi, Tyson Murray, Paul Stafford and Matthew Newland which enabled the Noles to squeeze out the victory over the 8,000-meter course.
In search of his third win of the season, Pottorff battled at the front with FAMU’s David Too throughout, ultimately slipping into second over the final two kilometers and cross in 24:06.49; 10 seconds back of the individual winner. Cross came home right behind FSU grad student and assistant David Barney (24:17.23), who was competing unattached, in 24:25.24.
Closing with purpose, the Seminoles’ supporting cast of Szogi (12th, 24:56.09), Murray (15th, 24:59.72), Stafford (17th, 25:04.35) and Newland (19th, 25:07.44), raced past the Rattlers’ 3-5 runners to secure the win.
FSU’s 43-point total was good for nine-point margin over runner-up Tennessee Tech (52 points), the No. 8 team in the South Region, which also managed to race past Florida A&M (64) in the late stages. In all, the field included 19 teams – 11 NCAA Division I squads – and 133 runners.
“Matthew Newland our sixth guy, out-kicked [FAMU’s] No. 3,” Braman said. “It was a really great effort on our guys’ part. The best race of the year for Cross, Isty and Ty Murray; gut checks a bit for Stafford and Newland, but they came through and did the job…We’re coming together.”
Pottorff, Murray, Stafford and Newland each recorded 8,000-meter personal-bests. Murray and Newland are Tallahassee natives and one-time Chiles High teammates.
While the top seven runners from the FSU women’s roster was preparing for Saturday’s Wisconsin Pre-Nationals race in Madison, a quintet of Noles chasing spots on the ACC Championship roster turned in a highly-competitive effort.
Redshirt freshman Ellie Wallace led the way in the first 6,000-meter race of the season, placing 15th in 22:04.11, pacing the Noles to a fourth-place team finish out of 19 teams, and in front of 10 NCAA Division I squads.
The Noles finished with 137 points, trailing Tennessee (45), Alabama (61) and Southern Miss (83), who came into the meet ranked 8-9-10, respectively, in the South Region.
Seniors Sarah Candiano (21st, 22:13.45) and Fatema Jaffer (24th, 22:21.31) were FSU’s second and third finishers, followed by freshman Erin Phelps (36th, 22:43.26) and sophomore Kate Bernicke (62nd, 23:25.92).
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 15 Ellie Wallace 13 22:04.11 21 Sarah Candiano 19 22:13.45 24 Fatema Jaffer 22 22:21.31 36 Erin Phelps 33 22:43.26 62 Kate Bernicke 50 23:25.93
Mircheva 18th At Pre-Nats; Noles Women Finish 14th.
Plenty to be gained in final tune-up for cross country postseason.
MADISON, Wisc. – The 25th-ranked Florida State women’s cross country team didn’t produce the kind of performance they had hoped for in Saturday’s Wisconsin Pre-Nationals Cardinal race. What the Seminoles did take away is enough information which, if acted on, could secure a Nov. 17 return trip to the Zimmer Championship Course for the NCAA Championships.
Senior Militsa Mircheva served notice once more that she will contend for NCAA All-American honors, methodically racing through the field to an 18th-place finish in 20:39.8, to lead the Noles to a 14th-place finish in the 35-team field.
While Mircheva was steadily moving up over the 6,000-meter race – she was 76th at 2,000 meters and 27th at 4,000 meters – a number of her teammates were too far back early on and could not quite duplicate the Bulgarian’s ascent through the ranks.
“We were OK,” FSU women’s coach Kelly Phillips said. “We’ve walked out of here before getting pummeled. We learned some things today. We’re better than how we finished. Our back half [of the lineup] just didn’t run aggressively enough and just had to make up too many spots.”
Freshman Elizabeth Funderburk was the Noles’ No. 2 finisher again in her 6,000-meter debut, placing 54th overall in 21:16.5 after coming through 2,000 meters in 97th position from a field of 237. Sophomore Maudie Skyring was even further back (148th) with one third of the race over, but rallied madly to place 97th in a personal-best 21:43.8.
Sophomore Jodie Judd’s first 6k in her comeback campaign produced too fast of a start – she was a team-best 59th at 2,000 meters – and a finish in the 102nd position (21:46.1). Megan Mooney was the Noles’ fifth scorer, placing 130th (22:00.7).
“Maudie was way back at the 2k, but then had a really great last 2k and made up a ton,” Phillips said. “Her teammates should have been with her.”
Jen Lima (146th, 22:14.3) and Althea Hewitt (194th, 22:54.4) rounded out the competing Noles.
Among other things learned
on a chilly Saturday morning of racing:
Mircheva once again set the standard, executing a brilliant race plan and coming away from the race encouraged that there are still better races ahead.
“I feel good because I did what I wanted to do, [starting] a little more conservative and passing more people with every next [kilometer],” Mircheva said. “However, I think I should have put in a little more effort. I felt fresh when I finished the race, which I really don’t want to feel after a 6k race.
“I’m really far from where I want to be, so it’s just kind of a process…I’m in a good spot, but I really have to move forward if I want to achieve something bigger.”
Phillips believes that’s the case for her entire lineup.
“She just ran really smart,” Phillips said of Mircheva. “She said she probably could have gone sooner, but she looked so comfortable the entire race. She ran the splits that we set…She looked tremendous.
“Funderburk looked good. She was kind of paying attention the whole time, like, ‘Where am I? Where am I?’ She could have been up further, but for her first 6k she did a nice job.”
Phillips said Skyring “looked great” over the final 2,000 meters and clearly has significant upside as the postseason being. Judd is in the process of stringing together meets and with improving health and fitness, has an opportunity to join the front pack. Mooney, a junior, has the talent, experience and track record to bounce back and tighten the pack.
Mircheva believes her teammates will respond with the ACC Championships two weeks away.
“After a bad race you’re more motivated to get there and get some work done,” Mircheva said. “This is kind of, ‘OK, we just need to work harder and be more consistent.’ That’s a good thing.”
And, Mircheva added, it wasn’t that the Noles had a bad day.
“It wasn’t enough,” she said.
“I think they learned a lot, but I think they now need to take the next step and be more aggressive in racing,” Phillips said. “I’m encouraged by some things.”
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 18 Militsa Mircheva 18 20:39.5 54 Elizabeth Funderburk 54 21:16.5 97 Maudie Skyring 97 21:43.8 102 Jodie Judd 102 21:46.1 130 Megan Mooney 130 22:00.2 146 Jenn Lima 146 22:14.3 194 Althea Hewitt 194 22:54.4
Women’s XC Developmental Squad Finds Winning Formula.
Low sticks, tight pack deliver Bobcat Invitational title.
MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. – Junior Hailey Hendry provided the low stick with a third-place finish and her Florida State teammates packed up nicely behind her at Saturday’s Bobcat Invitational, leading the Seminoles to victory over a 19-team field.
Hendry was the first Nole across the Council Farms Course finish line, covering 6,000 meters in 22:14.9, less than a second off her personal best at that distance. Freshman Ella Swigler was sixth overall (22:48.7), followed by the trio of sophomore Sarah Myers (23:02.4), freshman Sarah Parrish (23:06.2) and sophomore Kate Bernicke (23:18.5) in finishing positions 10-12.
With Micaela Torres (15th, 23:26.0) and Katie Kuhn (17th, 23:35.0) providing displacement points, the Noles’ developmental squad squeezed out a 42-54 victory over runner-up Alabama-Hunstville.
FSU’s impressive 1:04 split – the margin between the Noles’ first and fifth runners – was tops in the field.
In all, 13 of 16 Seminoles competing posted personal-best times in the event, hosted by Georgia College & State University. The 19-team field was comprised almost entirely of NCAA Division II programs, competing on a course which has served as host of conference and region meets.
FSU’s chase pack of Myers, Parrish and Bernicke – all of whom recorded personal-bests - were decisive in the win as they finished in front of Alabama-Huntsville’s Nos. 4-5 scorers, as did Torres and Kuhn. The Chargers, a perennial NCAA Division II Championships qualifier, came into the meet ranked No. 2 in the D2 South Region.
Of the 16 Seminole competitors, 15 were competing for the first time since the Sept. 22 Mountain Dew Invitational as a result of last week’s cancellation of the FSU Invitational due to Hurricane Michael. Seven of those were competing over 6,000 meters for the first time.
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 3 Hailey Hendry 3 22:14.9 6 Ella Swigler 6 22:48.7 10 Sarah Myers 10 23:02.4 11 Sarah Parrish 11 23:06.2 12 Kate Bernicke 12 23:18.5 15 Micaela Torres 15 23:26.0 17 Katie Kuhn 17 23:35.0 18 Nicole McConnell 23:37.1 19 Elizabeth Cobb 23:44.9 24 Eliana Karr 23:58.1 35 Claire Hooker 24:38.5 36 Mariah Zupan 24:39.4 42 Anna Lewis 24:52.2 46 Mackenzie Baysinger 24:58.6 50 Sidney Oakes-Lottridge 25:03.8 51 Julia Blankenbaker 25:04.7
XC Noles Out-Perform Projections At ACC Championships.
Women 4th behind Mircheva, Funderburk; Pottorff 11th for All-ACC honors.
BOSTON, Mass. – Out-performing outside projections, but not their own expectations, the Florida State cross country teams came away from Friday’s ACC Championships at Franklin Park with added confidence, and a little bit of hardware as well.
Senior Militsa Mircheva finished fourth and so did the 29th-ranked Seminole women, who received a 15th-place effort from freshman Elizabeth Funderburk and placed all five scorers within the top 44. It was the best finish for the Noles since their runner-up performance in 2014 and a significant improvement on back-to-back ninth-place finishes.
“I’m just proud that they came in with such good focus and were not afraid of it,” said FSU women’s coach Kelly Phillips, now in her fourth year. “That was super fun…It definitely makes it exciting to go into regionals on our home course. Hopefully it will move us up in the rankings. Maybe people will start thinking that Florida State is not so bad after all.”
Flotrack, the national running website, projected the Noles women to place eighth.
Redshirt freshman Caleb Pottorff validated his standout debut season with the Noles, racing with the front pack early and powering home to an 11th-place finish. Closing the 8,000-meter race in 23:58.5, Pottorff became the first FSU freshman to earn All-ACC honors since Jakub Zivec in 2010, which also came on the Franklin Park course in a Seminole victory.
The Seminole men placed seventh in the 15-team field; three spots ahead of their projected finish according to Flotrack, despite that fact that senior Istvan Szogi dropped out near the midway point.
“Caleb was fantastic,” FSU men’s coach Bob Braman said. “Toby [Hardwick] was very good, and Steven [Cross] was good…Overall it was a good race; our best race of the year. It’s got to be better than this if we’re going to make it out of regions to the national meet.”
Hardwick, racing for the first time since Aug. 31 due to injury, finished 28th (24:23.8), and Cross was 33rd (24:30.0) for the men. Tyson Murray’s personal-best 24:51.3 translated to 56th and freshman Paul Stafford (64th, 24:57.1) rounded out the scorers. Fellow freshman Matthew Newland (93rd, 25:24.8) was FSU’s sixth man.
Notre Dame snapped Syracuse’s five-year stranglehold on the ACC top spot, edging the Orange by four points for the team title, 57-61. NC State (85 points), Virginia (128), Wake Forest (154) and Virginia Tech (183) were in front of the Noles (186).
“We were three points behind Virginia Tech and maybe with a perfect race we would get Wake Forest in fifth,” Braman said. “Overall I’m pretty pleased and see the cup half-full, not half-empty.”
Pottorff showed no signs of being swallowed up by the moment in his ACC debut. He was elbow-to-elbow with the lead pack through the midway point, gaining confidence along the way.
“I knew what kind of training we had done and what kind of shape I was in,” Pottorff said. “I knew I had to put myself up there and no matter what happens, I believed I wasn’t going to fade back too far to be out of all-conference. That was a big goal going in and when I was up there, I knew I should be there.”
Though there were some challenging moments in the later stages of the race, once he crested the infamous Bear Cage Hill for the final time, he was determined to bring it home hard of the final 600 meters. And he didn’t disappoint.
The Seminole women arrived at the meet intent on showing they belong in the same breath as the league’s best, and so did their No. 1 runner, Mircheva. Following her tried-and-true plan of starting conservatively and methodically moving through the field, she improved two spots on her 2017 ACC Championship finish, closing the 6,000-meter race in 20:31.1.
“It went out the way I expected, a little bit faster,” Mircheva said. “My plan was actually pretty close to what happened….
“I’m actually much happier about our fourth place with the team than I am with my fourth place. It’s much more valuable that we did such a good job as a team and have really grown the last year. I’m really proud of our team.”
Funderburk, in her second 6,000-meter race of the season, ran 20:53.3 – a 25-second improvement over her Wisconsin debut at that distance - and was the third freshman in the field across the finish line.
“I’m a lot happier with this one than I was with my first one,” said Funderburk, after earning All-ACC honors. “I felt like I raced a lot more aggressively and went out a little a harder than Wisconsin. That gave me more confidence going into this one.”
The Noles finished behind No. 12 NC State, which won its third consecutive title by edging No. 18 Notre Dame 67-68. Syracuse, ranked 25th, was third (83 points), while Florida State (128) was well ahead of the rest of the field.
“I feel like all three of those teams can be top-10 or top-15 teams [at NCAAs],” Phillips said. “That bodes well for us. I’m super excited that they all ran as a collective group, really tough.”
Among the teams behind FSU was No. 22 Georgia Tech, which finished seventh (184 points).
“We should definitely celebrate how far we’ve come, but when we get back we should re-focus on regionals,” Funderburk said. “We’ve got two more weeks. We can still get so much better for regionals and nationals.”
Sophomores Jodie Judd (31st, 21:19.0) and Maudie Skyring (34th, 21:22.2), were joined by junior Megan Mooney (44th, 21:31.7) to round out the FSU scorers.
“It’s really exciting,” said Mooney, the only Nole with two previous ACC Championship starts. “Throughout the race we heard coach Kelly yelling out that we were around fourth place in the team standings.
“Hearing that motivated me and my teammates…It was really exciting when we saw that we were fourth and had reached our goal and exceeded what other people thought we would do. That’s really exciting going into regionals next week.”
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 4 Militsa Mircheva 4 20:31.3 15 Elizabeth Funderburk 15 20:53.3 31 Jodie Judd 31 21:19.0 34 Maudie Skyring 34 21:22.2 44 Megan Mooney 44 21:31.7 70 Jenn Lima 67 22:01.4 79 Ellie Wallace 72 22:09.9 88 Althea Hewitt 22:16.9 119 Kayla Easterly 23:11.4
Women, Men Race Way Back To NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Mircheva, women’s team victorious; men deliver runner-up finish.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Friday began with a heavy fog hanging over Apalachee Regional Park, which gave way to bright sunshine and one of the most rewarding days in Florida State cross country history.
The Seminole women and men are headed to the NCAA Cross Country Championships next weekend in Madison, Wisc. as automatic qualifiers from the NCAA South Region meet.
It’s the first time the programs have advanced together since 2014, and perhaps the start of a new run like the Noles enjoyed when they shared the national championship experience eight times during a nine-year stretch from 2006-2014.
Fourth-year coach Kelly Phillips’ women’s squad cut through the morning fog and lifted everyone’s spirits, racing to the programs’ seventh South Region title, but first since 2013.
Veteran coach Bob Braman’s 19th FSU men, young, unranked and underestimated, will arrive at the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2015 following an impressive runner-up finish.
It has been a long climb back to those once-common heights, which had helped lure juniors Megan Mooney and Steven Cross to Tallahassee, among others.
“The culture change, the enthusiasm and the drive that we’ve had this whole season led me to believe coming into this, that we could do it,” said Mooney, one of five FSU women to finish in the top 25 and earn All-Region honors. “But from three years ago when I got here as a freshman…this is just unbelievable. It’s really cool and exciting.”
Senior Militsa Mircheva, 26th at last season’s region meet, left no doubt about her redemption intentions, pulling away from Florida’s Jessica Pascoe over the final 500 meters to win the individual title in 20:16.9. It was FSU’s first individual crown since Colleen Quigley’s back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014 capped a string of four consecutive Seminole wins.
Behind the Bulgarian star, her teammates were authoring a meet-changing finish of their own. With 1,000 meters remaining the Noles were in third place and not going to the NCAA Championships, trailing No. 21 Florida by 14 points and No. 23 Ole Miss by six for the final qualifying spot.
“Throughout the race the coaches were yelling at us about where we were both individually and team-wise, which helped me keep it in perspective and keep myself calm,” Mooney said. “On the last kilometer, there were so many of our teammates back there [on the course] and honestly I think they were the ones who helped me drive. They were yelling, ‘Do it for the team. They’re working hard for you. Do it for them.’ That helped me realize, ‘It’s the last K at the ARP. I know what’s coming. Let’s get it done.’”
The unranked Noles got it done collectively as the top five combined to move up 20 spots during a stretch which included the final climb known as “The Wall” to overhaul both the Gators and Rebels.
Freshman Elizabeth Funderburk (8th, 20:43.4), sophomore Maudie Skyring (11th, 20:58.2), Mooney (18th, 21:06.7) and sophomore Jodie Judd (24th, 21:12.4) delivered the team title, all in personal-best times over 6,000 meters. Senior Althea Hewitt (49th, 21:41.2) and sophomore Jen Lima (59th, 21:52.2) also recorded personal-best times in their support effort.
Mooney moved up nine positions over the final kilometer, while Judd passed seven and Skyring four, leading the fast-closing chase pack.
When the points were calculated, FSU’s 60-point total was four clear of the Gators and 27 in front of the fading Rebels in third place.
The Seminole men had an equally daunting battle on their hands, given that no fewer than four teams were battling for the second and final qualifying spot behind 17th-ranked Ole Miss, which cruised to the title with 45 points.
Caleb Pottorff continued his banner redshirt freshman campaign in his first 10,000-meter race, placing ninth (31:32.0) to lead the Noles. Close behind were Cross (17th, 31:56.9) and senior Toby Hardwick (18th, 31:57.4). Still, FSU found itself tied with Tennessee (44 points) for second place with three scoring runners across the finish line.
Freshman Paul Stafford (21st, 32:04.5) and senior Istvan Szogi (27th, 32:15.7) delivered the decisive blow. Stafford crossed the finish line 10 seconds in front of the Vols’ third runner and Szogi was three seconds clear of their fourth finisher, providing the Noles with a 92-108 cushion for the second auto-qualifying spot.
“This is hard to put into words,” said Cross, one of four Noles to earn All-Region honors. “I’m not sure it has fully sunk in yet. It’s been a long time coming. It’s something that shouldn’t be a treat, but getting the Noles back to the national meet – doing what we knew what we had to do and can do – it feels so great.”
Tallahassee natives, freshman Matthew Newland (48th, 32:46.8) and junior Tyson Murray (57th, 32:57.5), rounded out the finishing Noles. They are among five FSU runners from Florida; the most of any of Braman’s 13 NCAA Championship qualifying teams.
Cross said it was a confident bunch as they walked to the starting line.
“The boys have been taking care of business every day this season and it just paid off,” said the Merritt Island product, who won a state high school title on the same course. “That’s what we were talking about before the race. The work was done. We were just picking up our paycheck today, and we picked it up. We’re getting on that plane…
“We had faith in each other and made it happen.”
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 1 Militsa Mircheva 1 20:17.0 8 Elizabeth Funderburk 8 20:43.4 11 Maudie Skyring 11 20:58.2 18 Megan Mooney 17 21:06.7 24 Jodie Judd 23 21:12.4 49 Althea Hewitt 47 21:41.2 59 Jenn Lima 56 21:52.2
Mircheva Caps Season With All-American Honors.
Noles women 26th, men 31st at snowy NCAA Cross Country Championships.
MADISON, Wisc. – Florida State senior Militsa Mircheva arrived at Saturday’s NCAA Cross Country Championships with a tried-and-true race plan and plenty of motivation. A little snow on the ground was not going to deter the Bulgarian.
Methodically working her way through the field at the Zimmer Championship Course, Mircheva joined the Seminoles’ list of elite All-Americans, placing 25th in her final collegiate cross country race. The South Region champion finished in 20:26.3 over the 6,000-meter course to collect FSU’s 24th all-time All-American honor and first since 2014.
“I think it was a fair day,” said the hard-to-please Mircheva. “I made some mistakes, but overall I feel like I did a fair job.”
Mircheva’s performance was the highlight of day for the two-team Florida State contingent. She led the women’s team to a 26th-place effort in their first appearance at the meet since 2014. The men, back at the championship meet for the first time since 2015, placed 31st.
An overnight snow left about an inch covering the course as temperatures rose slightly above freezing before the first gun of the day sounded. Neither the snow, nor the fast early pace by the women’s leaders, deterred Mircheva’s race plan. She was 81st at 2,000 meters, but jetted into 33rd by the 4,000-meter split.
“I didn’t think it was quite hard to move forward, because if you go out a little more conservatively you have more energy at the end of the race,” Mircheva said. “I could also say I went a little bit faster today, so I didn’t have too much left.”
FSU women’s coach Kelly Phillips shared a big embrace with Mircheva as she emerged from the media tent.
“She was amazing,” Phillips said. “Last year she was so disappointed by not being here. That was going to be our year like, getting the experience and then you come the next year to get All-American. Since we didn’t get the experience she decided she was getting it done anyway.
“Top 25 is pretty darn good. We talked about it, that she could do it, but talking about it and actually doing it are kind of different.”
None of the seven Seminole women on the starting line had competed at the NCAA Championships prior to Saturday’s race, which proved to be a learning experience.
Sophomore Maudie Skyring (131st, 21:20.5), freshman Elizabeth Funderburk (152nd, 21:27.8) and Jodie Judd (176th, 21:38.5) held down finishing positions 2-4 for the Noles, while sophomore Jen Lima (233rd, 22:25.1) accounted for the fifth scoring spot. Junior Megan Mooney (236th, 22:29.7) and senior Althea Hewitt (248th, 22:57.4) rounded out the Noles.
“They’ve done such a great job all year,” Phillips said. “It wasn’t a great race for us, but with everybody being their first time…they didn’t get out and then couldn’t move and do anything. I can get angry, but the reality of it is that it is just [a lack of] experience. They have to get more experience.
“It’s been a great season. Twenty-sixth is not great but it’s better than where we were last year sitting in Tallahassee.”
The Seminole men suffered a similar fate, caught behind the fast-starting crowd and never getting into the thick of the competition. Junior Steven Cross finished in the No. 1 spot for the Noles for the first time this season (176th, 31:19.2), followed by freshman Paul Stafford (193rd, 31:31.0) and redshirt freshman Caleb Pottorff (207th, 31:48.5).
“The tank was empty after regions,” FSU men’s coach Bob Braman said. “I thought we could put it together one more time, but we left it all at the ARP.”
The Noles advanced for the first time since 2015 by finishing second at the South Region meet last Friday on their home course; an emotional breakthrough for the program.
“The weather was a challenge, but we handled it OK,” Braman added. “We were just a tired team.”
Senior Toby Hardwick (220th, 32:07.7), redshirt junior Tyson Murray (229th, 32:28.9) and freshman Matthew Newland (242nd, 32:53.3) rounded out the Noles’ finishers. Senior Istvan Szogi did not finish.
Phillips and Braman both hope their teams learn from the experience and capitalize on the next opportunity, much like Mircheva did when she failed to qualify for the 2017 NCAA Championships following a sub-par finish at the South Region meet.
“Last year I was in pretty good shape but I had a pretty bad race at regionals, so this feels like I finally put all the pieces together,” Mircheva said.
“She’s pretty determined,” Phillips added. “She’s been determined for two years. She’s had her eye on the prize and never stops thinking about the next race.”
WOMEN 6K RACE Place Name Points Time ===== ========================= ====== ======== 25 Militsa Mircheva 23 20:26.3 131 Maudie Skyring 104 21:20.5 152 Elizabeth Funderburk 119 21:27.8 176 Jodie Judd 143 21:38.5 233 Jenn Lima 195 22:25.1 236 Megan Mooney 198 22:29.7 248 Althea Hewitt 210 22:57.4