Fresno State Athletics
Harriers Open 2006 Season With 42nd Annual Watermelon Run
8/22/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Aug. 22, 2006
FRESNO, Calif. -
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Fresno State Opens Season with 42nd Annual Watermelon Run
The Fresno State men and women's cross country team opens its 2006 season with the 42nd Annual Watermelon Run on Sat., Aug. 26. Ran on campus and starting at the corner of Cedar and Barstow, the open meet will have two events with the four-mile all-run at 8:00 a.m. and the two-mile all-run at 8:45 a.m. Registration begins at 7:00 a.m. and the entry fee is $5.00. There is a team discount of seven to 10 runners per gender for $25.00. To register, call (559) 278-4097. This meet is the only home appearance for the Bulldog harriers prior to hosting the 2006 Western Athletic Conference Championships at Woodward Park on Sat., Oct. 28.
2005 Watermelon Run in Review
Two Fresno State Bulldogs led the way and made their mark as well at the 41st Annual Watermelon Run. The two-mile women's run saw sophomore Roxanne Sellick (Fresno, Calif.) capture the overall women's title with a time of 11:25 - five seconds off the school's freshman record set by Mary Kuphaldt in 1986. Senior Zinzi Evans (Oakland, Calif.) finished second overall with a time of 11:34. In addition, both Bulldogs also broke into the school's Top 25 All-Time 2-Mile list. Sellick posted the 15th-best time while Evans' mark ranks 20th. Fresno State also had four other `Dogs finish among the top 20 runners. Junior Marina Santana (Woodland Hills, Calif.) finished 13th overall with a time of 12:07. In 2004, she set the school's 24th-best mark in the two mile and ran it at the Watermelon Run. Senior Valeria Delgado (Clovis, Calif.) placed 15th overall (12:13) while junior Patty Torres (Porterville, Calif.) and sophomore Paloma Dominguez (Corcoran, Calif.) finished 16th (12:14) and 18th (12:29) overall, respectively.
Men's Cross Country Returns
While the men's squad is still looking to take shape, the Bulldogs will look to build upon the tradition had before its three-year hiatus. The men's cross country program has captured four conference titles and boasts eight individual conference champions, including a string of five consecutive individual league champions from 1988-92. In addition, the Bulldogs have seen seven NCAA individual qualifiers as well as claiming one All-American. The 2002 season was the last time Fresno State competed with a men's team. That year saw the Bulldogs finish fifth at the conference championship for the second straight year. In 2001, the `Dogs advanced to the NCAA Region as a team while in 2000 they placed third in the WAC championship. In 1999, Fresno State had the WAC Freshman of the Year in Philip Ogilvie. In 1992, Jamey Harris was the program's first individual WAC champion after being selected as the Big West Male Athlete of the Year the season before.
'Dogs Host 2006 WAC Cross Country Championship
Fresno State will host its third WAC Cross Country Championship since joining the league. With Woodward Park serving as the WAC venue in 1999 and '97, Fresno State also will host its ninth overall a cross country conference championship. Fresno State also was the host school for the six Pacific Coast Athletic Association Conference championships (1986, '83, '82, '81, '74 and '68). With five straight road meets on the docket for the 2006 season for both the men and women, Fresno State now will have hosted 18 major events, including 14 NCAA Region/District championships.
Head Coach Joe Gonzales
In his second season as the head coach of the Fresno State women's cross country program and making his second stint as head coach of the men's program, Joe Gonzales has been a longtime assistant with the Fresno State track program. Entering his seventh year as an assistant coach in charge of the distance runners, he previously coached the Fresno State men's cross country program for three years (2000-02). Last season, Gonzales directed the women's program to a top five Western Athletic Conference finish, a trip to the NCAA Western Region and had one All-WAC performer. 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 '02 along with a third place finish in 2000. Four runners also received All-WAC honors during that time. All told, Gonzales has had four consecutive top five finishes for the Bulldogs' men and women's program while coaching five all-conference runners. 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 bachelor of science degree in liberal studies.
2006 Women's Outlook
The women return five of its top six runners and 22 letterwinners as the Bulldogs are coming off their eighth NCAA Tournament showing in the last 11 years. Establishing nine new Top 25 school records in the 2-mile, 5,000-meter and 6,000-meter, collectively, last fall, the 'Dogs also bring back two of its top three scoring leaders in Evans and Sellick. Evans and Sellick, who both ran in their first NCAA meet with the team last fall, combined for all the second or third place finishes in the seven meets from a year ago. Evolving into the program's No. 2 runner a year ago, Evans set a career-best 6K time of 23:17 - a mark that ranks No. 8 all-time at Fresno State - at the 2005 NCAA Western Region. Still further, she also set a personal-best mark in the 5K when she ran an 18:32.6 at the UC Riverside Invitational. Sellick made an immediate impression her rookie year. She prepared for the 2005 season by posting a time of 11:25 in Fresno State's Annual Watermelon run - a time that ranks No. 15 all-time at Fresno State as well as a time that was five seconds off the school's freshman record. Closing out the 2005 campaign on a high note, Sellick set the school's 11th-fastest all-time 6K mark (23:21) at the 2005 NCAA Western Region just after setting a personal-best 5K time (19:02.1) at the 2005 WAC Championship. Complementing the `Dog this season once again will be Santana, Torres, Dominguez and Delgado. Finishing as one of the Bulldogs' top five runners in six meets, Santana broke the 20-minute barrier for the third time in her career when she clocked a 5K season-best time of 19:48.7 at the 2005 WAC Championship. Torres, who placed among the top five runners for Fresno State in six meets, notched a career-best mark in the 5K during the regular season. Both would set a Top 25 6K school mark at the 2005 NCAA Western Region. Santana posted the 18th-fastest time at 24:15 while Torres is one back at 24:26. One of three returning harries to race in all seven meets last year, Dominguez clocked the 24th-best 6,000-meter time of 24:27 at the 2005 NCAA Western Region. After competing in only two races as a freshman, Delgado ran in all seven meets in 2005. She posted person-best marks in both the 5,000- and 6,000-meters during regular-season.
2005 NCAA Western Region in Review
Making their eighth NCAA Western Region appearance in 11 years, the Bulldogs finished 25th out of 30 teams at the NCAA Western Region, which was hosted by Stanford University. All six competing Bulldogs posted season-best 6K times as 199 runners toed the line at the Stanford Golf Course. Andrea Buckner (Yorba Linda, Calif.) paced the `Dogs as she finished 67th overall with a time of 22:09.2. Her mark was just six seconds off her NCAA Western Region mark from a year ago when she ran 22:03 to place 57th. Evans, Sellick, Santana, Torres and Dominguez all notched personal-best 6K times in the final meet of the year. All five of them also made their first NCAA individual appearance while moving up the school's all-time 6K list. Evans finished 130th overall with a time of 23:17.0. Sellick was right behind and crossed the finish line with a time of 23:21.0 to place 138th. Santana clocked 24:15.0 to finish 172nd while Torres (24:26.4) and Dominguez (24:27.8) placed 176th and 177th, respectively. Second-ranked Stanford won the NCAA Western Region with 24 points. Other nationally-ranked teams that competed in the NCAA Western Region were No. 26 Washington, which finished third with 117 points, and No. 21 Oregon, which finished fourth with 139 points.
2005 WAC Championship in Review
With 131 points, the women tied for fifth with Nevada at the 2005 WAC Cross Country Championship . The conference title went to league newcomer Idaho, which recorded 31 points. Utah State (43 points), San Jose State (107 points) and Boise State (115 points) rounded out the top five. Fresno State had three runners finish among the top 25 in the 62-runner field . Buckner ran her second-fastest 5K time of the season when she clocked 18:12.9 to finish eighth overall. She also grabbed her first all-conference honor as well by picking up second team acclaim. While the program now has nine All-WAC runners to its credit, she is the first Bulldog to snag All-WAC honors since 2003. Evans was the next Bulldog to finish as she, too, ran her second-fastest 5K time of the season to place 21st overall (19:01.6). Sellick posted a personal-best time of 19:02.1 and finished a spot back of Evans. Santana notched a season-best mark of 19:48.7 (39th) while Torres collected her second-fastest 5K time of the year with a 20:28.1 (47th). Delgado placed 51st (20:47.4) and Dominguez finished 52nd ( 20:56.9) to round out Fresno State's championship squad.
Women's History at WAC Championship
In the WAC Cross Country Championships, the women have finished among the top five five times since 1992. The Bulldogs best finish was fourth place in 1995. They also have four fifth-place showings (2005, '03, '01 and 1994). In 1995, Nelson had the best overall individual finish by a Bulldog (4th, 18:05). Other top 10 individual WAC finishes were recorded by Buckner (8th, 18:12.9, 2005), Kulikov (5th, 17:28, 1997), June (6th, 17:43, 2003), Kelly Jacobson (6th, 17:52, 1994) and Dina Farage (9th, 17:59, 1992).
Men's History at WAC Championship
In the WAC Cross Country Championships, the men have finished among the top five the last four years it participated. The Bulldogs best finish was third place in 2000 and 1999. Since 1992, the 'Dogs only have finished out of the top 10 once. Their success in the WAC translated to success in the NCAA's as well. In 2001, Fresno State placed 13th. In 2000 and 1999, the squads finished 12th both years. In 1995, the men's program had its best finish in the NCAA's since competing in the WAC with an eighth place showing and followed that up with a 10th place finish a year later. Overall, since 1992, Fresno State has made seven NCAA showings in 11 years as a WAC member.
Players Mentioned
