Oct. 17, 2009

Men's Team Results     
Men's Individual Results      
Women's Team Results       
Women's Individual Results

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Charlotte 49ers Cross Country teams wrapped up the NCAA Pre-National meet with a 24th place finish by the women’s team in the 6000m White Race, while the men took home a 28th place finish in the 8000m Blue Race.
 
The top finisher for the women was Amanda Goetschius, who claimed 26th place with her time of 21:18.9 with the top finisher for the men being Adu Dentamo who ran the course in 24:26.7 for 31st place. Both Goetschius’ and Dentamo’s times were top ten times in Charlotte history.
 
The women’s team finished ahead of several NCAA regionally-ranked teams including Wake Forest (No. 8 in Southeast Region), Akron (No. 9 in Great Lakes Region) and Illinois State (No. 11 in Midwest Region). The women also improved by ten positions from last year’s Pre-Nationals when they placed 34th in their race.
 
Behind Goetschius for Charlotte was Sarah Willingham in 130th place with a time of 22:27.8. Willingham was followed by Maria Ruiz (151st; 22:41.1), Keara Thomas (171st; 22:56.8) and Laura McCary (173rd; 22:57.3). Kristin Mitchell and Janet Barry also placed in the race with times of 23:41.2 and 23:44.7.
 
“Our goal was to jump out early and see where we stacked up against the nation’s best teams and my hat comes off to Goetschius and Willingham, who both ran really good races,” said Schlichter. “We came out and beat some really good teams that are ranked regionally so we should move up in the regional polls this week.”
 
The 6000m race was the first of the season for the women, who have been competing in 5000m races since the season opener at USC Upstate. The next race for the women will be the Atlantic 10 Championship on October 31st in St. Louis, Mo. Last year the women finished runner-up with Goetschius claiming the individual title.
 
Like the women’s squad the men’s team also finished ahead of NCAA regionally-ranked teams by topping Georgia Tech (No. 10 in South Region) and Marquette (No. 15 in Great Lakes Region). The men improved upon last year’s Pre-Nationals by four positions over last year’s 28th place finish.
 
Coming in behind Dentamo for Charlotte was Dakota Lowery in 150th place with a time of 25:49.8. Lowery was followed by Chase Eckard (153rd; 25:50.6), Will Taylor (208th; 26:41.0) and Ross Roberson (214th; 26:47.2). Also placing in the race for the men were Brian McGuire (218th; 26:57.2) and Daniel Stiefvater (220th; 26:59.5).
 
“We came out and ran pretty well but I thought we didn’t get out early enough that we needed in order to beat some of the better teams in the race,” stated Schlichter. “Overall, I thought we didn’t give anything away to some of the other teams and took away a lot of experience that will set us up nicely for the conference and regional championships.”
 
The men’s focus will also now turn to the A-10 Championship in two weeks. The men finished in fourth place in last year’s race with Dentamo claiming the individual title.
 
“We are looking forward to the championship season because we have been working all season for the upcoming races and that is where are all of our hard work is going to pay off at.”