Orlando, Fla. - The Stetson men's and women's cross country teams ran their final regular season meets of 2011 Friday evening at the UCF Black & Gold Challenge. The Hatter men finished seventh of 12 teams while the women came in 14th of 16 squads.
In the men's 8K, sophomore Andrew Epifanio (DeLand, Fla.) led the way with a 31st place time of 27:46.66. Junior Kyle Burton (Oviedo, Fla.) finished 41st in 28:40.98 with junior Brian Dughi (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Jeremy Butler (Mims, Fla.) right next to each other in 61st and 62nd place, respectively. The last of the five counting scores for the Hatters was senior Alexander Kempinski (Jacksonville, Fla.) in 32:21.73 and 70th place overall.
The Hatters finished seventh with 220 points, trailing UNF (30), FGCU (72), Florida A&M (75), Embry-Riddle (85), Florida Atlantic (121) and Bethune-Cookman (218) while beating out Warner (256), Rollins (273), Jacksonville (279), Nova Southeastern (283) and Edward Waters (290). Host institution UCF does not field a varsity men's cross country squad.
STETSON MEN'S RESULTS
31) Andrew Epifanio - 27:46.66; 41) Kyle Burton - 28:40.98; 61) Brian Dughi - 62) Jeremy Butler - 70) Alexander Kempinski - 32:21.73; 72) Deryck Greene - 32:25.18; 74) Angelo Parkinson - 32:32.31; 86) Ryan Becker - 34:22.16; 91) Peter Davis - 37:23.84; 92) Matthew Ady - 38:26.71
In the women's 6K, senior Maria Harper (Tallahassee, Fla.) led the way for the Hatters with a time of 23:47.69 and a 17th place finish overall. Unfortunately for Stetson's place in the team standings, it would be more than three full minutes before the next Hatter, junior Alyssa Thompson (Mims, Fla.) came across the line in 26:54.61 and 75th place. Sophomore Tabitha Castrillon (Orlando, Fla.), freshman Julie Spear (Windermere, Fla.) and sophomore Shannon Harrell (Colorado Springs, Colo.) made up the remainder of the Stetson five-woman scoring section.
Host UCF won the team title in a tiebreaker at 18 points with Jacksonville; the Knights won due to the fact JU brought just five runners to the meet and did not have a sixth for tiebreaking purposes. Also finishing ahead of the Hatters were Florida A&M (103), FGCU (110), Embry-Riddle (118), Palm Beach Atlantic (131), UNF (152), Florida Atlantic (197), Rollins (233), Pasco-Hernando Community College (293), USF (305), Bethune-Cookman (310) and Nova Southeastern (338). NSU just nipped the Hatters by one point; Stetson was able to best Warner (396) and Edward Waters (484).
STETSON WOMEN'S RESULTS
17) Maria Harper - 23:47.69; 75) Alyssa Thompson - 26:54.61; 84) Tabitha Castrillon - 27:55.32; 92) Julie Spear - 28:48.32; 93) Shannon Harrell - 28:53.69; 99) Christine Iseley - 29:39.98; 113) Stephanie Bird - 31:36.99; 121) Katrina McKay - 32:57.05
Head Coach Joe Matuszczak and his Hatter men and women now turn their attention to preparing for the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships, set for Saturday, October 29 in Nashville, Tennessee.
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