Fresno State Athletics
Cross Country Travels To Highly Touted Stanford Invitational
9/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 25, 2006
FRESNO, Calif. -
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Fresno State at Stanford Invitational
The Fresno State men and women's cross country teams are at the highly touted Stanford Invitational, an evening meet that will be held on Sat., Sept. 30. Last year the women finished 22nd out of 32 teams. Their best showing was in 2002 when they placed 18th out of 33. For the men, their last appearance in the Stanford Invitational was in 2001 when they finished ninth out of 28 teams. The men's best showing was sixth place out of 23 schools at the 1995 meet. Since 1995, the women are making their fifth consecutive appearance and 11 of the last 12 at the Stanford Invitational. For the men, minus their three year hiatus, will be making their eighth straight appearance since 1995.
Evans and Sellick Are One-Two Punch
Senior Zinzi Evans (Oakland, Calif.) and sophomore Roxanne Sellick (Fresno, Calif.) were two of top three scorers last season. This year, both continue to take the leadership role as they have finished one-two, respectively, for the Bulldogs this season. Evans, who never ran cross country in high school, has been one of the program's top five runners since her sophomore year. To date, she has ran in 20 career meets and is ranked in No. 8 all-time in the school's 6K list (23:17) while having posted the school's 13th-fastest 2-mile mark of 11:23 at the 2006 Watermelon Run. Sellick has run in all 11 meets since last season. In her collegiate debut, she posted the school's second-fastest 2-mile run by a freshman (11:25) at the 2005 Watermelon Run and improved upon that mark this season with a time of 11:23 to rank No. 16 all-time. She also ranks No. 11 in the school's 6K list (23:21). In Evans' career, she has finished as the 'Dogs top finisher in two meets -- all this season -- and has been the No. 2 runner in five races since last year. Sellick has been the 'Dogs No. 2 runner in four meets to date and the program's No. 3 runner in five races dating back to last season.
School's 6K List Boasts Eight Current Bulldogs
While Evans and Sellick already are listed among the school's all-time Top 25 6K times, five more Bulldogs joined the school's chart after one meet into the season: Junior Patty Torres (No. 16), freshman Marissa McPhail (No. 18), sophomore Paula Dominguez (No. T19), freshman Jennifer Hernandez (No. 21) and freshman Meri Hawkins (No. 23). The school's all-time 6K Top 25 list now boasts eight current runners.
Sacramento State Hornet Jamboree in Review
Women - Competed at the Sacramento State Hornet Jamboree ... Missed out on a second place finish by one point and took third place out of four teams ... Three Bulldogs finished among the top 15 runners and four posted sub 20-minute 5K times ... Evans, Sellick and McPhail (Crotton, Md.) were the top three runners ... As the team's top runner for the second straight meet, Evans finished eighth overall and clocked her fifth-fastest 5K time (19:13) - 12 seconds off personal best -- to post her second straight top 10 finish ... Running in her 20th career meet, Evans has three top 10 finishes in her career and has ran a sub-20 minute time in eight of 12 5,000-meter races to date ... Sellick finished second for the `Dogs for the second straight meet and notched her second-fastest 5K time (19:15) - 13 seconds off her personal best - for a ninth place showing ... McPhail crossed the finish line third for Fresno State with a 5K time of 19:25 ... She made her debut by finishing fourth for the Bulldogs at the 6K CS Stanislaus Invite ... Torres (Porterville, Calif.) notched back-to-back career performances ... After clocking a 6K time of 23:55 at the CS Stanisluas Invitational to open the year, she ran a personal-best 5K time of 19:58 at the Sacramento State Hornet Jamboree for her first sub 20-minute performance ... Dominguez (Corcoran, Calif.) also clocked a personal-best 5K time with a mark of 20:33 for a 29th place showing at the Sac State Hornet Jamboree.
Men - The Sacramento State Hornet Jamboree field featured No. 11 BYU ... Fresno State started out with five runners but had to take a non-team score as one Bulldog could not finish ... Two Bulldogs made their collegiate debut: freshmen Frank Sanders (Ceres, Calif.) and Tony Rojas, Jr. (McFarland, Calif.) ... Freshman Brandon Geis (Fresno, Calif.) finished first for Fresno State with a season-best 8K time of 27:10 for a 27th place showing ... One of five freshmen on the men's squad, he made his collegiate debut at the CS Stanislaus Invitational and finishing 12th overall with an 8K time of 27:18 ... Sanders finished second for the Bulldogs and placed 30th overall (27:15) ... Sophomore Allan Williamson (Fresno, Calif.) finished 35th (27:59) and Rojas was 38th (28:29).
McCurley Garners WAC Athlete of the Week Honors
Freshman James McCurley (Clovis, Calif.) made his collegiate debut at the CS Stanislaus Invitational and helped the Bulldogs to a third place finish while crossing the line as the top collegiate runner. Finishing second overall, he ran an 8K time of 26:12 and was honored for his efforts by being named Western Athletic Conference Male Runner of the Week (Sept. 4).
'Dogs Host 2006 WAC Cross Country Championship
On Oct. 28, Fresno State will host its third WAC Cross Country Championship since joining the league. With Woodward Park serving as the WAC venue for the third time (2006, '99 and '97), Fresno State 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). Fresno State will have hosted 18 major events, including 14 NCAA Region/District championships, at Woodward Park.
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. 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.
Players Mentioned
