2007 Cross Country Recaps

PLATT FINISHES 158 OF 243 AT NCAA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Nov. 19 – In her first showing on a national stage, Southern Utah harrier Sharla Platt finished in 158th place of 253 runners with a finishing time of 21:59 at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday afternoon.  It was the second consecutive year that the Thunderbirds have been represented at the national even.

“Sharla did a great job in getting out fast,” head coach Eric Houle said.  “But, there were a lot of things going on today and I think it may have been a little overwhelming.  However, she did a great job and ran with the best in the country.”

Texas Tech’s Sally Kipyego captured the women’s individual title with a first-place time of 19:30 as Stanford captured the team title with a team score of 145.

Platt became the first female to compete for the Thunderbirds at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and caps a season in which SUU captured both the men and women’s Summit League crowns.

Results (.pdf)

PLATT FINISHES IN TOP-20 AS THUNDERBIRDS FINISH 12TH AND 14TH AT MOUNTAIN REGIONALS

OGDEN, Utah – Nov. 10 – Southern Utah’s Sharla Platt recorded the second-best finish in school history at an NCAA Regional competition when the junior crossed the line in 18th on Saturday afternoon.  Senior Mark Currell recorded the top finish for the men with a 31st-place finish with the second-fastest time on the Ogden 10K course with a time of 31:33.

As a team, the Thunderbird women finished 14th while the men finished 12th.

“We traveled to this competition with ten freshmen and ran a pretty good meet,” head coach Eric Houle said.  “We came into this meet having won a conference championship on both sides, but on the regional level you need to add talent with maturity and we got the experience we needed today.”

Despite his youth, freshman Cam Levins recorded a top-half finish on the men’s side, finishing in 52nd with a time of 32:30 with teammate Dave Sheeran right behind in 58th place (32:50).

On the women’s side, Joanna Crowther and Diana Medina just missed a top-half finish after crossing the finishing line in 67th (22:48) and 72nd (22:56), respectively.

Platt will now have a chance of being selected as an at-large individual qualifier for the NCAA Cross Country Championships when entries are announced early next week.  Fifth-place finisher Texas Tech will need to qualify as a team for Platt to advance to the event in Terre Haute, Ind. on Nov. 19.

Men's Results (pdf)
Women's Results (pdf)

THUNDERBIRDS SWEEP CONFERENCE TITLES

MACOMB, Ill. – Oct. 27 – Southern Utah’s men claimed their second consecutive conference title and the women captured their first since 2004 when the Thunderbird cross country teams swept the Summit League championships in Illinois on Saturday morning. 

The men’s title also marked the ninth time in the last 11 conference championships that the trophy has gone home with the Thunderbirds.  The women also returned to form capturing the team’s eighth title in 11 years in the league.

“Our men all ran strong from top to bottom today,” head coach Eric Houle said.  “To be able to run with these new teams and remain at the top really speaks well of the program and the kids we are able to recruit.”

SUU senior Mark Currell led the way for the Thunderbirds, finishing first with a new course record of 24:47.  Currell also garnered Male Athlete of the Year honors for his effort.

Freshman Cam Levins earned Newcomer of the Year with his third-place finish, also under the course record time, crossing the line with a time of 25:27.

Dave Sheeran also finished in the top ten for Southern Utah with a ninth-place time of 25:44.  SUU was the only team to have three runners finish in the top ten.

Southern Utah’s four and five runner, freshman Ryan Barrus (25:55, 13th) and sophomore Donovan Tsinnijinnie (25:59, 14th), sealed the win for the Thunderbirds.  SUU was also the only school with its top five runners in the top 15 of the 78-athlete field.

The women’s side was much closer with the top three teams divided by a single point.  In the end, the Thunderbirds tied the Mastodons of IPFW with 67 points, but had a better finish from their non-scored sixth runner to capture the championship.

“Our women did a great job of coming from fourth, from a year ago, to first this year,” Houle said of the women.  “They all trained hard this year with a desire to return to the top and were able to do it with a very young squad.”

Sharla Platt, once again, paced Southern Utah, finishing second and on the heels of ORU’s all-American Faithy Kamangila with a time of 21:26.  Kamangila won the race and Female Athlete of the Year honors with a 21:19 finish.

Freshman Steffi Minson was the next finisher for the Thunderbirds in 11th-place, earning Newcomer of the Year honors as the top finisher among freshmen in the league.

She was followed by Joanna Crowther (22:51, 13th), Madalyn Olpin (20th, 23:12) and Diana Medina in 21st with a time of 23:13.  However, it was Southern Utah’s non-scoring sixth finisher in Kate Eborn who crossed the line in 26th place (23:30) that broke the tie with IPFW and clinched the title for the Thunderbirds.

Houle was named Coach of the Year on the men’s side and will now turn training into preparation for the NCAA Mountain Regional in Ogden on Nov. 10.

Men's Results: Individual | Team
Women's Results: Individual | Team

STRONG SEASON CONTINUES FOR SUU AT HOME AND ABROAD

CEDAR CITY, Utah/TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Oct. 13 – SUU harriers Sharla Platt and Mark Currell continued to headline Thunderbird cross country success as each led the way for Southern Utah as the teams split meets this weekend.  Platt posted a second-place time at the Color Country Invitational, hosted by SUU, while Currell raced to a top-quarter finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet in Terre Haute, Ind.

Platt crossed the finish line at the Cedar Ridge golf course with a time of15:42 on the course just under the 5k mark.  Teammates Steffi Minson (eighth) and Kate Eborn (tenth) were soon to follow with top-ten times of 16:51 and 16:54.

Katrina Lee and Madalyn Olpin rounded out the scored finishers for the ‘Birds, crossing the line in 17:00 (12th) and 17:04 (13th), respectively.

Southern Utah finished in second place to Utah Valley on the day with the Wolverines scoring 22 to the Thunderbirds’ 42.

With the top five runners for the Thunderbirds in Indiana, Southern Utah was short handed on the men’s side, finishing in third place to Utah Valley and Idaho State.  Donovan Tsinnijinnie led the charge for SUU with an 11th-place finish with a time of 23:41.  Freshman Jordan Johnson recorded the next-best finish in 19th with a time of 23:53.

In Indiana, Currell set an SUU school record on the Terre Haute 8k course with a time of 24:14.  The time was good enough for 65th-place in the 273-athlete field.  Junior Dave Sheeran finished in the middle of the pack with a time of 24:55 and a 146th-place finish.

As a team, the Thunderbirds finished 31st in the 40-team field, ahead of Ohio, Indiana State, Georgia Tech, Yale, Summit League-rival Oakland, Coastal Carolina, Montana, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Western Kentucky.

The victory over the Golden Grizzlies bodes well for SUU as the team will now prepare for the Summit League cross country championships during the final weekend in October.  Western Illinois is scheduled to host the event on Oct. 27.

Men's Color Country Results
Pre-nationals Individual | Team (.pdf)
Women's Color Country Results

CURRELL AND PLATT PACE THUNDERBIRDS AT UC RIVERSIDE

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Sept. 29 – SUU senior Mark Currell and junior Sharla Platt finished first and second individually as the Thunderbirds finished in second  of 17 on the men’s side and fourth of 22 on the women’s side at the UC Riverside Invitational on Saturday morning.

“This was just an outstanding meet for us,” head coach Eric Houle said.  “All of our times today really bode well for us going into the conference championships.”

One of Houle’s reasons for optimism included the finish of of the women with each time under 18:30 on the 5k course.

Behind Platt’s second-place finish, freshman Steffi Minson finished in 28th-place (25th scored) with a time of 18:17 followed by fellow freshman Joanna Crowther in 31st-place (28th scored), finishing in 18:21.

Sophomore Kate Eborn and senior Meghan Reilly were right behind in 33rd (30th scored) and 37th-place (31st scored) with times of 18:24 and 18:29, respectively in the 223-athlete field.

The team finished as the second intercollegiate program, but fourth on the score board, trailing only host school UC Riverside.

The men had a similar finish with a runner-up spot to the Highlanders, but finished as the second team in the 17-team field.

In addition to Currell, freshman Cam Levins had another strong race, finishing in the seventh spot with a time of 24:43.  Junior Dave Sheeran was behindhim in 15th-place (25:12), followed by freshmen John Hart (18th, 25:27) and Jordan Johnson (31st/30th), crossing the line in 26:01.  Johnson narrowly beat out sophomore Donovan Tsinnijinnie for the final scoring spot as Tsinnijinnie finished just three seconds behind Johnson in 32nd-place (26:04) of the 162-athletes participating.

Thunderbird cross country fans will have their first look at the team in two weeks when Southern Utah hosts the Color Country Invitational on Oct. 13.  The rest of the team will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. for the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet that same weekend.

Men's Resutls
Women's Results

PLATT HEADLINES FINISH FOR THUNDERBIRDS AT AZTEC INVITATIONAL

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Sept. 15 – Southern Utah’s Mark Currell and Cam Levins finished first and fourth, respectively as the men tied for second as a team at the Aztec Invitational on Saturday afternoon while Sharla Platt’s eighth-place finish on the women’s side headlined the Lady T-Birds ninth-place team finish.

“This was a really outstanding meet for us,” head coach Eric Houle said.  “We were running with some of the top teams in the mountain and west regions and had some huge performances from both the men and women.”

Headlining the performances was Currell’s first-place finish, completing the 8k-course with a time of 25:23.  Teammate and freshman Cam Levins was only seconds behind in fourth-place, crossing the line in 25:38.

“To have both of those guys go under 26-minutes was pretty remarkable,” Houle said of the performance.  “When Jess (Baumgartner, SUU’s 2006 All-American) ran this course last year he was just over 26-minutes, so this is a great pace for these two young men.”

Other scoring finishes on the men’s side included 22nd-place Dave Sheeran (26:28), 26th-place Ryan Barrus (26:31) and John Hart in 36th-place with a time of 26:41 in the 110-athlete field.

On the women’s side, junior Sharla Platt continued her strong campaign with the eighth-place finish, covering the 5k-course in 18:06.  Her finish was among some of the best in the country, running with perennial NCAA qualifier Arkansas.

Lady Thunderbird freshman continued to impress as Steffi Minson (56nd, 19:37) and Joanna Crowther (61st, 19:41) finished along side junior Meaghan Reilly (53rd, 19:35) and sophomore Kate Eborn (60th, 19:41) in the field of 139.

Southern Utah will now have two weeks off before taking its third trip of the season to the state of California for the UC Riverside Invitational on September 29.

Women's Results (.pdf)
Men's Results (.pdf)

WOMEN FINISH FOURTH, MEN SECOND AT UC IRVINE INVITATIONAL

IRVINE, Calif. – Sept. 8 – Southern Utah, led by a true freshman for the men and a junior for the women, finished second and fourth respectively at the UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday morning. 

“The finishes on both sides were just awesome, considering the youth on both the men’s and women’s team,” head coach Eric Houle said after the race.  “We hope that this kind of finish will reflect upon how we do at the conference and regional level.” 

Cam Levins paced the men with a sixth-place individual finish, helping the Thunderbirds to the second-place finish among 20 teams.  Sharla Platt led the women with a third-place finish as SUU finished fourth among 12 teams in their heat.

The finish is better than that of the 2006 Thunderbirds who finished fourth and seventh, respectively at Irvine last year.

Levins’ time of 24:44 on the 8k course is far and away the best time in the conference at this point in the season, besting last week’s best by almost an entire minute.

Platt’s time of 17:57 will also be among the top of the conference with a time that was a full 30 seconds faster than last week’s top time in the 5k.

Other notable finishes for the Thunderbirds included freshmen Joanna Crowther and Steffi Minson finishing 19th and 24th in the 123-athlete field.

The men also posted another two in the top-25 as senior Mark Currell finished in 16 and junior Dave Sheeran placed 24th (finishing 26) in the 195-athlete field.

The season will continue for both the men and women as the teams travel back to California next weekend and participate in the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.

Women's Results
Men's Results
9/10/07 Cross Country Report

THUNDERBIRDS SWEEP TITLES AT IDAHO STATE INVITATIONAL

POCATELLO, Idaho - Sept. 1 - Southern Utah cross country raced to a strong start as both the men and women finished first in the team's first meet of the season at the Idaho State Invitational on Saturday.  In addition to the team titles, SUU senior Mark Currell and junior Sharla Platt each finished first, respectively, for the men and women.

"It was a strong showing on both sides for our team today," head coach Eric Houle said following the meet.  "I was very impressed with the improvement on the women's side and our men really stepped up in competing against a much older, senior-laden team."

The women's depth was evident as Thunderbird women made up seven of the top-ten finishes and every runner finishing 13th or better in the 18 member field.

Outside of Currell's senior leadership, the next finishers for the Thunderbirds proved to be freshmen on the men's side with Canadian Cameron Levins and fellow freshman John Hart with finishes of third and fifth, respectively.

Both teams will be back in action next weekend when the teams travel to the UC Irvine Invitational on Sept. 8.