Florida junior cross country runners Josh Izewski (Doylestown, Pa.) and Genevieve LaCaze (Daisy Hill, Australia) turned in Florida’s top finishes Saturday at the 2010 Mountain Dew Invitational, officially kicking off UF’s cross country season with the sixth consecutive Mountain Dew Invite titles for both the men’s and women’s squads. Izewski clocked a career-best 24:39.52 in the men’s 8K to take the overall individual title, while LaCaze ran a 17:36.61 second-place 5K race in women’s action. In the 22nd annual event, hosted at UF’s Mark Bostick Golf Course, the Florida women tallied 41 points for the Gators, while the UF men’s team collaborated for 22 points and seven top-10 finishes.
“Today was a really great start to our season,” Florida cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “We came into today with a specific race plan in mind due to the fact that we’re in a big training block of our season. Over the next two weeks, we’re going to plug in more of our girls and guys, which should amp up our lineup a bit. Genevieve (LaCaze) and Josh (Izewski) were in charge of setting the tempo for our groups today and I thought they did a great job with that. They kept our younger runners attached to the front as we got deeper into the race. Mark (Parrish) has been training great, as have all of our freshmen. He definitely put up a great first run in a Florida uniform.”
The defending SEC Champion and No. 8 women’s team placed three other Gators in the top 10 behind LaCaze, including freshman Cory McGee (Pass Christian, Miss.), senior Ali Crabb (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and sophomore Callie Cooper (St. Augustine, Fla.). McGee (17:47.37), Crabb (17:49.21) and Cooper (17:55.69) placed sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively, as Cooper turned in a career-best mark and McGee raced her first event donning the Orange and Blue.
UF freshman Stephanie Strasser (Fernandina Beach, Fla.), sophomore Mandy Perkins (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and freshman Sarah Davis (Lakeland, Fla.) were the fifth, sixth and seventh Gators to score, coming in 17th (18:28.37), 19th (18:32.15) and 26th (18:44.51), as Perkins set a new career-best mark in the 5K. Gator senior Alison Babb (Gainesville, Fla.) clocked a 20:35.00 to finish 94th in the field of over 200 athletes.
In the men’s 8K, all seven Florida scorers finished in the top 10 to tally the Gators’ 22 team points. Sophomore Derek Wehunt (Odessa, Fla.) and freshman Mark Parrish (Tampa, Fla.) crossed the finish line as UF’s second and third scorers behind Izewski, finishing second (24:49.86) and fourth (24:58.34), respectively, as Wehunt established a new career mark in the race. The Gators additionally swept seventh through eleventh as seniors James Uthmeier (Destin, Fla.) (25:12.46), Anthony Morales (Palm Coast, Fla.) (25:16.23), freshman Matt Mizereck (Tallahassee, Fla.) (25:25.82), junior Danny Manco (Miami, Fla.) (25:27.99) and sophomore Alex Schanen (Jacksonville Beach, Fla.) (25:29.78) rounded out the next five UF finishers. Schanen’s 25:29.78 marked a career-best, surpassing his previous 25:55.30.
Four other Gator student-athletes represented the Orange and Blue at the Mountain Dew Invitational, including freshman Tyler Davidson (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) and junior Michael Anderson (Williston, Fla.), who hung together in 16th (25:46.99) and 17th (25:53.80). Junior Geoffrey Anderson (Williston, Fla.) and freshman Erick Montoya (Estero, Fla.) rounded out the Florida runners with times of 27:25.89 and 28:02.18, respectively.
Jacksonville University’s Joane Pierre turned in the fastest women’s 5K time with a 17:33.50 to edge out LaCaze by just three seconds for the title. Jacksonville, USF, North Florida and Tampa rounded out the women’s top five team finishers, while Embry-Riddle, Florida Southern, the Florida Track Club and Miami completed the top five teams on the men’s side.
Florida continues its cross country season Oct. 2 when it heads north to Madison, Wis., for the Wisconsin adidas Invitational. For all the latest on UF cross country, visit www.GatorZone.com and follow the Gators on Twitter @GatorZoneXCntry.
Women’s Top-10 Team Results
| 1. Florida | 41 |
| 2. Jacksonville | 111 |
| 3. USF | 123 |
| 4. North Florida | 129 |
| 5. Tampa | 131 |
| 6. Miami | 172 |
| 7. Florida Gulf Coast | 224 |
| 8. FAU | 236 |
| 9. Embry-Riddle | 257 |
| 10. Florida Track Club | 272 |
Florida Women’s Finishers
| 2. Genevieve LaCaze | 17:36.6 |
| 6. Cory McGee | 17:47.4 |
| 7. Ali Crabb | 17:49.2 |
| 9. Callie Cooper | 17:55.7 |
| 17. Stephanie Strasser | 18:28.4 |
| 19. Mandy Perkins | 18:32.2 |
| 26. Sarah Davis | 18:44.5 |
| 94. Alison Babb | 20:35 |
Men’s Top-10 Team Results
| 1. Florida | 22 |
| 2. Embry-Riddle | 96 |
| 3. Florida Southern | 125 |
| 4. Florida Track Club | 148 |
| 5. Miami | 157 |
| 6. Florida Gulf Coast | 175 |
| 7. North Florida | 205 |
| 8. USF | 206 |
| 9. Tampa | 225 |
| 10. Florida International | 231 |
Florida Men’s Finishers
| 1. Josh Izewski | 24:39.5 |
| 2. Derek Wehunt | 24:49.9 |
| 4. Mark Parrish | 24.58.3 |
| 7. James Uthmeier | 25:12.5 |
| 8. Anthony Morales | 25:16.2 |
| 9. Matt Mizereck | 25:25.8 |
| 10. Danny Manco | 25:27.9 |
| 11. Alex Schanen | 25:29.8 |
| 16. Tyler Davidson | 25:46.9 |
| 17. Michael Anderson | 25:53.8 |
| 59. Geoffrey Anderson | 27:25.9 |
| 83. Erick Montoya | 28:02.2 |
