2011 University of Washington Sundodger Invitational Men's Individual Results
2011 University of Washington Sundodger Invitational Men's Team Results
2011 University of Washington Sundodger Invitational Women's Results
Seattle, WA -- On Saturday morning at the 19th Annual University of Washington Sundodger Invitational, ART U cross country went up against another slate of strong opponents. A breakout performance from senior
Daveson Marindich led the men's team on the 8k course held at Lincoln Park. Junior
Kristen Sanzari captured 29th as the top women's finisher among four-year participants.
Out in front for the women's team, Sanzari crossed the line with a time of 23:31.05 on the 6k course. Graduating to a slightly longer race than the previous meet, Sanzari was still able to complete the course ahead of competitors from Western Washington, San Francisco State, and George Fox. Behind her, the duo of sophomore
Kylie Long and senior
Stacey Toth captured 98th and 99th respectively with times separated by approximately four seconds. Long turned in a 25:53.21 mark while Toth was at 25:57.82.
“For the women, we brought them here for the challenge and this early season test,” Head Coach
Charles Ryan said. “Each member of the team had a personal record on this course and I was especially happy with the performances of
Kylie Long and
Heather Castro. They were significantly better than last week and the women were very good individually today. It is important to see the team perform on different courses as well as in different environments and I think this was a testament to how hard they have been working because they did a great job.”
Sophomore
Heather Castro finished 121st with a time of 28:11.98 to serve as the fourth ART U qualifier. Coming in with a 30:03.12 in 123rd place was junior
Emily Allis who completed the Urban Knights' five.
“There were some very good runs by Kristen, Kylie, and Heather,” Assistant Coach Ben DeLand said. “It was a good sign because this was a 6k versus the 5k they ran in the previous meet. Overall we saw some good improvements.”
On the women's side, Alison Jackson of Trinity Western placed first among four-year institutions in the 6k race and Whitman earned the team title.
An inspiring run by senior
Daveson Marindich put him in 5th overall with a time of 24:58.2 for the 7th place ART U team. His mark on the 8k course was his second highest as an Urban Knight and it was the first time Marindich had ever finished ahead of senior teammate
Amos Maru. Behind Marindich, Maru captured 7th, posting a 25:13.5 time while senior
Simon Mutai turned in a new lifetime best time of 26:04.4. Mutai crossed the line in 37th place.
“Everybody on the men's side ran significantly better than the USF Invite and the big surprise was Dave beating out Amos so that was an important confidence booster for Dave,” Coach Ryan said. “This was also the first race for
Chris Gutierrez and he ran very well. With him and
Jack Nevins added to this team, the men are looking good for the Pacific West Conference Championships. Today, the highlights were Dave's performance and Chris's first meet. Amos ran well and then Jack and Simon both were significantly faster than the previous meet. My overall take on everyone is as long as there are improvements every week, I'm happy.”
Freshman
Jack Nevins topped his mark at the USF Invitational two weeks ago with a 26:29.1 performance on the 8k course, earning him 59th overall. In the first race of his Urban Knight career, freshman
Chris Gutierrez finished in 87th place (27:14).
“For the men, everyone ran better than two weeks ago,” Coach DeLand said. “It was a solid meet for both the men and women's teams and is something to build on. Everything is about taking steps towards the PacWest Championships at the end of the season.”
Taking home the men's individual crown was Seth Bridges of Northwest University; however, San Francisco State collected the team title by a significant 71-point margin. As the 7th place team, Academy of Art bested squads from Linfield and Western Washington among others.
“The biggest test for the men is going to be at Stanford next week so this was a good setup for them heading into that one,” Coach Ryan said.
The ART U men's squad is back in action next week with the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, CA. Their race is scheduled to begin at 10:50 AM.
