The women's team took home the Winthrop Invitational championship. |
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Women's Cross Country Takes Asics/Winthrop Invitational Title
Sept. 25, 2004
Rock Hill, SC - Jane Daniels and Tsehaye Dagnachew finished fourth and fifth, respectively, as the Charlotte 49ers women's cross country team ran away with the team title at the Asics/Winthrop University Invitational at Winthrop Farm on Saturday morning. Ed Schlicter finished fourth overall to lead the Niner men's team to a fourth-place finish.
Daniels and Dagnachew, who led Charlotte in the team's previous two races this season, again paced the Niners in a tough 5,000-meter field. Daniels finished fourth overall, in a time of 18:07, while Dagnachew cross the line just three seconds behind her teammate for fifth overall. Charlotte's Liz Smith rounded out the race's top-10, helping to give the team a 52 to 57 edge over second-place Appalachian State.
Andria Craig and Amelia Slagle contributed to the team title with 16th- and 17th-place finishes overall, while Candace Hitchcock took 27th place. The women's University division field consisted of 84 runners from eight Division I teams.
"The women did a good job today," head coach Brad Herbster said. "Winning the meet, of course, but more importantly they worked together. Jane and Tsehaye worked together for a lot of the race as did Amelia, Liz and Andria. Jane and Tsehaye took it out at a good pace and looked to go 1-2 early on. Candace Hitchcock really stepped up today and contributed in a big way. Both teams are coming together and we will look to improve upon the success at Great American (next week)."
In the men's University division race, Charlotte was fourth overall, while High Point took home the team title. Schlicter ran 25:04 in his first 8,000-meter race of the season, good for fourth overall, to lead Charlotte. Russell Slade (16) and Nick Sunseri (18) also posted top-20 performances, and were followed closely by Jamil Muhamin and Matt Hipps in 23rd and 24th places overall. Ryan Jank rounded out the scoring for the Niners in 34th place.
"Our men and women both looked very strong today," coach Herbster commented following the race. "The men did a great job sticking to the game plan and executing. Ed really looked good in his first 8k of the season, Slade , Sunseri, Jank, Jamil, and Hipps all did a good job working together in the middle part of the race. Keeping the gap as small as possible is the goal and to have our top 5 within 50 seconds of one another was great."
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The men's University division race was comprised of 82 runners from nine Division I schools.
Charlotte's cross country teams will compete next week in the Great American Cross Country Festival in Raleigh.
