Fresno State Athletics
Cross Country to Compete at CS Stanislaus Invitational
9/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 5, 2005
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FRESNO, Calif.
CS Stanislaus Invitational Up Next
The Fresno State cross country team will compete at the CS Stanislaus Invitational on Sat., Sept. 10, 9:00 a.m., in Modesto, Calif. Last fall, the Bulldogs finished fifth in the six-team field after winning three consecutive CS Stanislaus Invitational crowns (2001-03). In all three years, Fresno State also had the invitational's top runner in Kara June (21:41, 6K, 2004; 22:01, 6K, 2003) and Olga Gutierrez (22:38, 6K, 2001). In fact, the 'Dogs come into this weekend having captured the Stanislaus title five times in the past seven years and boasting the meet's top runner in four of them.
Buckner Takes Lead
After finishing as the Bulldogs top runner in all seven races a year ago, junior Andrea Buckner (Yorba Linda, Calif.) continued her leadership form by finishing first for Fresno State at the CS Fullerton Invitational last weekend. In the women's collegiate division that featured 253 female runners, Buckner finished 19th overall in the 5K race with a time of 19:36.7. Her time was the best season-opening time of her three-year career to date as she opened at 19:42 and 20:05 at the Bronco Invitational in 2004 and 2003, respectively. Dating back to her freshman campaign, the two-year NCAA Regional qualifier has ran below 19:45 for eight consecutive meets.
Sellick Captures Watermelon Run Title
In a tune up for the upcoming cross country season freshman Roxanne Sellick (Fresno, Calif.), who hails out of Bullard High School, captured the 41st Annual Watermelon title in the women's 2-mile run. Sellick posted a time of 11:25, which was five seconds off the school's freshman record set by Mary Kuphaldt in 1986. In addition, Sellick's 2-mile time now ranks 15th-best all-time at Fresno State.
Looking to Break Through
While the 2003 and 2004 seasons saw two Bulldogs crack the school's all-time 5K Top 25 list, Buckner will look to capture her first all-conference honors after finishing just two places out from a year ago. With a time of 18:18, she will have her eyes set on being the first 'Dog to go under the 18-minute mark in a season since June (17:42, 11th all-time, 2003 Cal Poly Invitational). In fact June was the first harrier to break the 18-minute barrier since Nicole Kulikov clocked 17:28 at the 1997 WAC Championship hosted by Fresno State. In addition, Fresno State is looking to notch its first invitational winner since June captured a pair of titles in 2003. Buckner's closest opportunity happened last fall in the season-opener for Fresno State at the Bronco Invitational where she placed second with a time of 19:42.
The Schedule
There are five invitations on the schedule for the 2005 Fresno State cross country team. After competing at the CS Stanislaus Invitational this Saturday, the Bulldogs wrap up September at the 32nd Annual Stanford Invitational on Sept. 24th - a meet that boasts 3,000 runners. Fresno State only has two meets in October with the UC Riverside Invitational (Oct. 1) and the Cal Poly Invitational (Oct. 15) before participating in the 2005 WAC Championship, which will be held Oct. 29 at the Eagle Island State Park in Boise, Idaho (Boise State, host). The NCAA Regionals will be held at Stanford's Golf Course on Nov. 12. The NCAA Championships, hosted by Indiana State, will take place on Nov. 21 at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center. Fresno State will be competing at the Stanford Invitational for the third consecutive season and ninth time in 10 years. In addition, it is making back-to-back appearances at the UC Riverside and Cal Poly Invitations.
Head Coach Joe Gonzales
In his first season as the head coach of the Fresno State women's cross country program, Joe Gonzales has been a longtime assistant with the Fresno State track program. Entering his sixth year as an assistant coach in charge of the distance runners, he also previously coached the Fresno State men's cross country program (2000-02). During his tenure as the men's cross country coach, Gonzales led the team to three top five finishes in the WAC, finishing fifth in 2001 and 2002 along with a third place finish in 2000. Four runners also received All-WAC honors during that time. Prior to entering his coaching career at Fresno State, Gonzales served as a coach at Exeter Union High School. He began his coaching career at Exeter, where he started as a volunteer assistant for the cross country team in 1990. In 1995, he became the head cross country coach for both the boys and girls programs. Gonzales then served as the head track & field coach at Exeter from 1998-2000. In his 10 years at Exeter, he led the girls' cross country team to five league championships and a section title and the girls' track and field team to two league crowns. He guided the boys' cross country team to a pair of league titles. Gonzales graduated from Fresno State with a degree in liberal studies (2001).
CS Fullerton Invitational in Review
In its first meet of the season, Fresno State finished 12th out of 24 teams at the CS Fullerton Invitational ... The Bulldogs had three of their eight runners finish among the top 100 out of the 253 field ... Buckner led the way by finishing first for Fresno State and 19th overall (19:36.7) ... In her official collegiate debut Sellick was the second Bulldog to cross the finish line and placed 37th overall (20:00.03) ... Junior Zinzi Evans (Oakland, Calif.) was the third `Dog to finish as she ran 20:37.3 for a No. 59 showing ... Evans, who was the No. 2 runner for Fresno State last fall, ran her best season-opening time as well after posting times of 21:37 (2004) and 21:53 (2003) at the Bronco Invitational ... Sophomore Marina Santana (Woodland Hills, Calif.) finished fourth for Fresno State and 105th overall at 21:22.9 ... Rounding out the final four Bulldog harriers were sophomore Patty Torres (Porterville, Calif.) at No. 108 (21:30.1), junior Valeria Delgado (Clovis, Calif.) at No. 128 (21:54.1), senior Sunny Arada (Clovis, Calif.) at No. 161 (22:37.7) and sophomore Nancy Rodriguez (Tulare, Calif.) at No. 189 (23:55.5) ... Outside of Buckner, Evans, Santana and Torres, Fresno State had four new runners toe the line who had no more than two meets of experience ... Running unattached at the CS Fullerton Invitational was freshman Paloma Dominguez (Corcoran, Calif.) and junior Dina McPhail (Crotton, Md.) ... Dominguez ran 21:34.5 while McPhail ran 22:50.04.
