2010 SF State Invitational Men's Individual Results
2010 SF State Invitational Men's Team Results
2010 SF State Invitational Women's Individual Results
2010 SF State Invitational Women's Team Results
San Francisco, CA -- The Academy of Art University cross country teams turned in numerous outstanding performances at the 2010 SF State Invitational highlighted by junior
Amos Maru's 1st place run. At Golden Gate Park on Friday afternoon, junior
Daveson Marindich captured 2nd place behind
Maru en route to a 4th place finish for the men while senior
Irinel Zamfir took 32nd, leading the women to 10th overall.
“Amos had another great meet and Daveson was leading for a good part of the race so that was exciting for him,” Assistant Coach Anne Ricketts said. “Overall it was an excellent effort up front because Amos really wanted to help Daveson succeed. Considering the competitive field they faced at the Stanford Invitational, this was another great performance by those two. I think it was definitely a mental breakthrough.”
Traversing the 8k course which took place at Speedway Meadows on the Urban Knights' home course of Golden Gate Park,
Maru finished with a time of 24:56. His mark was the only sub-25:00 result of any runner and his second-best time of the season. Just six seconds behind
Maru,
Marindich crossed the line at 25:02 which was his top time on an 8k course this year and just a shade over his career best.
“The two biggest standouts, Amos and Daveson, did well again,” Head Coach
Charles Ryan said. “Daveson ran extremely well and was a big part of the team's success today. He was way ahead of Amos at one point so it's impressive for them to lead and win like that. I can also definitely see the gap between our crew starting to close. Joey and Kennedy both ran well and I think the team is beginning to focus in on that conference meet.”
Senior
Geoffrey Cheruiyot made great strides forward with his best time of the season (27:39) and 44th place result among four-year competitors. Junior
Kennedy Kurgat finished 60th behind
Cheruiyot, turning in a mark of 28:07 in his first race of 2010. And 62nd result (28:14) came for junior
Joey Villasenor, a personal best on an 8k course. Rounding out the top five ART U finishers was junior
Mark Bretan with a time of 29:09 good for 70th place.
In terms of team competition, Academy of Art University men's cross country finished 4th with 142 points, beating out Central Washington as well as Division I San Jose State and St. Mary's in the process. University of San Francisco won the team event despite top finishes by
Maru and
Marindich. Humboldt State and host SF State took 2nd and 3rd places respectively.
“Overall this was a good day for the men,” Coach Ricketts said. “Geoffrey had a big improvement to finish third and it looks like he's getting back to his normal self. Kennedy is now back and healthy again and then Joey had his best race ever too.”
On the women's side, the 2009 Pacific West Conference Newcomer of the Year continued to show improvement.
Zamfir earned 32nd place with a 23:53 run that was her first on a 6k course this season. Junior
Cassandra Schumacher, who captured 47th overall among four-year runners, persevered through sickness to finish with a 24:23 mark.
“Irinel took another 10 seconds off her time so she's definitely getting back into shape and looking strong,” Coach Ricketts said. “Cassandra ran really well considering she was sick and Stacey also had a strong day. Since this was our first 6k this season, it was good for the team and I think we're looking forward to next week too. We'll be training this week in preparation for Santa Clara.”
The third ART U finisher was freshman
Kylie Long in 57th place with a time of 24:37 and her first taste of competition on a 6k course. Junior captain
Stacey Toth turned in a 25:38 time while taking 85th individually. Finishing fifth for the Urban Knights, junior
Leticia Saldaña took home 95th place and a mark of 26:07.
“I greatly appreciate Cassandra running while sick today,” Coach Ryan said. “Kylie was a standout as well because she continued to close that gap between her and Irinel which makes us a stronger team in terms of the conference. The performances are getting better and you can see it as we move forward. The weather was good today and I felt everyone did well.”
Up against a handful of Division I opponents, Academy of Art University's 10th place result put them ahead of Cal State Monterey Bay along with Pacific West Conference rivals Dominican and Notre Dame de Namur. Santa Clara, the host of ART U's next meet, won the team competition though it was Rubye Elhard of Cal State Stanislaus who finished first individually.
Both Urban Knights cross country teams will be back in action on Oct. 16 for the 2010 Bronco Invitational hosted by Santa Clara. The women's race is scheduled for 9:45 AM followed by the men's competition at 11:15 AM at Baylands Park in Santa Clara, CA.
