WOMEN'S RESULTS | MEN'S RESULTS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The Nova Southeastern University men’s and women’s cross country teams had a strong performance in the 16th Annual Walt Disney World Classic today, Oct., 9, capturing two top-10 team finishes.

Running in the 5K were the women who captured the highest team finish for the Sharks, placing fifth overall out of 33 teams with a finishing team time of 1:39:11.40 and average time of 19:50.28 gaining 193 points.

Leading the way for the women was Alexandria Palm (So., Winnebago, Ill.), finishing ninth overall out of 269 runners with a finishing time of 18:56.80.  Also making a strong top-20 finish for the women was Peri Bowman (So., Virginia Beach, VA.), who captured 18th place with a finishing time of 19:24.40, which proved to be Bowman’s best finish and time of the season.

The women completed the race second overall out of the five competing Sunshine State Conference teams, falling only five minutes behind the total time of No. 11 Tampa who won the event.

Also making strides for the Sharks today was Brittaney Smash (So., Arlington, Texas), who finished 50th overall with a time of 20:08.30.  Directly behind Smash was Taylor Stokes (So., Advance, N.C.) finishing 56th with a time of 20:10.50.  Coming in only 30 seconds behind Stokes and as the final point cutoff was Courtney McAuliffe (Sr., Holiday, Fla.) capturing 70th-place with a time of 20:31.40.

Also competing for the women was Jessica Osteen (Jr., North Las Vegas, Nev.), who placed 145th with a crossing time of 21:53.00. Crossing the line 194th overall was Brittany White (Rf., Bangor, Pa.), who had a time of 23:30.80 and Brandi Nichols (So., Inverness, Fla.), who finished up the Sharks runners in 202nd place with a time of 23:52.10.

Competing in the 8K event were the men who finished ninth overall out of 29 other competing teams.  The men ended with a total team time of 2:18:15.57 with an average finishing time of 27:39.12.

Leading the charge for the men was Kevin Meagher (Jr., Mansfield, Mass.), who finished 14th overall out of 214 runners capturing a finishing time of 26:21.25.  Securing the men’s other top-20 performance was Omar Hernandez (So., Rio Pic, Ariz.), who came across the line 16th overall with a finishing time of 26:27.38.

In competition with the other four SSC teams the men finished third behind Florida Tech and Tampa.

Adding to the men’s success was Nico Crecco (Jr., Mendon, N.Y.), who finished 67th with a finishing time of 28:03.08.  Craig Sulken (Fr., Cincinnati, Ohio), had a finishing time of 27:12.96 good enough to capture 84th place behind Crecco. The final runner adding to the team point total was Chris Jacob (Sr., Naples, Fla.), who finished 108th overall with a crossing time of 29:02.93. Closing out the event for the men was Ryan Jerothe (Fr., New Port Richey, Fla.) who placed 162nd overall with a time of 30:41.66.

This popular annual event attracted numerous colleges from around the country. The fast 5K and 8K courses provided athletes a variety of terrain and a unique view of ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

The Sharks will be back in action again next Friday, Oct. 14 competing at the University of Central Florida Black and Gold Challenge which was added to the schedule earlier in the season in place of the Stetson Invitational.

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