USF Cross Country Has Solid Showing At NCAA Regional at Auburn

The USF men’s and women’s cross country teams turned in solid showings at the NCAA South Regional held at Auburn University this morning.

On the men’s side the Bulls took 11th overall (342 points), out of 21 teams, and placed two runners in the top 25. Adam Chumbley (Port Charlotte, Fla.) finished the 10K event in 20th with a time of 31:05.53 and Sean Burris (Rockledge, Fla.) was 24th in 31:11.03. Both Chumbley and Burris earned All-Region honors for their performance. In addition, Derek Lincoln (Toronto, Canada) turned in a good race finishing 62nd in 32:19.82.

Also running for the “Green and Gold” was Chris Cox (Winter Park, Fla.) taking 111th (34:14.29) and Andrew Charles (Orlando, Fla.) finishing the course in 144th (36:50.47).

The USF women’s team, although finishing a disappointing eighth (228 points) out of 25 schools, placed three runners in the top 20. Bente General (Itzehoe, Germany) was the Bulls top female finisher running the 6K race in 20:53.57 while taking fourth. Her finish was good enough to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships in Cedar Fall, Iowa on November 24.

Christa Benton (St. Petersburg, Fla.), a 2002 cross-country All-American, took 12th in a time of 21:21:04 while Jessica Hellender (Cooper City, Fla.) took 19th in a time of 21:34.56.

For their efforts, all three runners – General, Benton, and Hellender – earned All-Region honors.

Also competing for USF was Sara Hall (Plant City, Fla.) taking 92nd (23:20:67) and Kristen Puolos (Grand Blanc, Mich.) finishing in 111th (23:48.17).

“As a group I am very happy with our runners,” said head cross-country coach Greg Thiel, “I think they ran extremely well. I’m also very happy with where our program is and where it is heading. Anytime, in an event like this, that you can have five of your 10 performers that compete make All-Region it says a lot for your program.”