Zwama, Sellick Lead Dogs with Top 10 Finishes

Saturday, October 17

Santa Clara, Calif.

TBA

Fresno State

Santa Clara Invitational

Paul Zwama took second at the Bronco Invitational Saturday to lead the team to second place.

Zwama, Sellick Lead Dogs with Top 10 Finishes

10/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country

Oct. 17, 2009

Complete Results

FRESNO, Calif. - Both Fresno State's men and women found their stride at the Bronco Invitational, the final meet of the regular season on Saturday.

Paul Zwama stepped into the limelight for the Bulldog men, taking second in the men's invitational, just one tick back of the first place competitor, to spearhead Fresno State's second place team finish.

Roxanne Sellick led the women for the fourth time this season with a tenth place finish overall and an eighth place finish among collegiate competitors.

The men's team had their best finish of the season, taking second place among the 15 teams competing in the 8K Men's Invitational. First-place Long Beach State was just three points better than Fresno State, winning with a score of 69 to the Bulldog's 72.

"It was a really strong performance for the men," said cross country coach Sean McManus. "It was a great job, but it's almost bittersweet to lose by three points. We were in it all the way. But all of our training has been geared toward peaking at this point in the season and it's paying off. Today was a good sign that we're headed in the right direction headed to the WAC Championships."

Zwama ran a career- and team-best 24:33 Saturday to finish just ones second behind Santa Clara's Robbie Reid for first.

"Paul had a great race," said McManus. "He ran track late into the summer, training for a national meet in the Netherlands, so he got a late start on cross country. And now his cross country training is showing. He did a great job today."

Also finishing in the Top 25 were senior Frank Sanders, junior Erick Garcia and freshman Danny Vartanian. Sanders ran a season-best 24:52 to finish 13th among the 160 racers in the event. Garcia's 24:56 landed him in 16th overall for the team's third spot. Vartanian, the team's fourth finisher, placed 21st overall with a time of 25:11.

"All of our top four guys got up and into the lead group right away," said McManus. "They really got us to a place to be competitive through the whole race."

Eric Battles filled in the final scoring position for the Bulldogs, timing a 24:56 to take 40th.

The men's finish bodes well for the Bulldogs as they head to the WAC Championships on Oct. 31 in Reno, Nev., and then the NCAA West Regionals on Nov. 14 in Eugene, Ore. Fresno State's silver medal put it ahead of conference foes Boise State, which took third with 126 points, New Mexico State and San Jose State, as well as NCAA West Regional competitors Stanford, California, UC Davis, San Francisco, Sacramento State, Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Saint Mary's.

"We are feeling feeling more confident going into the WAC after our performance today," said McManus. "We found the depth we need going into a meet as small as the WAC Championships where you can't have any mishaps. We beat one of the two teams ranked ahead of us in the region (San Francisco) and were neck and neck with the other (Long Beach State)."

Roxanne Sellick nabbed her third Top 10 finish Saturday.

In the women's invitational 5K, Sellick continued to better her bests in Santa Clara, leading the Bulldogs with a 10th place finish, clocking a season-best 17:34.

"Roxanne has been a consistently strong performer for us this season," said McManus. "She has been a strong leader from early on."

Pamela Cruz had a break-out race, finishing second for Fresno State with a career-best time of 18:34, more than 70 seconds better than her previous best. The time earned her 54th among the 156 racers.

"By far the biggest race of the day was Pamela Cruz," said McManus. "She had a huge PR and I couldn't be happier for her.

"Last year Pamela came into the office wanting to run with no previous cross country experience. Not only is she one of the nicest people I've ever coached, she has been the most dedicated to her training on the team. A year ago, she could barely run a mile and now she's a strong performer for us in a 5K. I couldn't be happier for her."

Veronica Paredes and Kelsey Smith crossed as the team's No. 3 and 4 finishers, taking 66th and 79th. The two were separated by seven seconds, timing 18:42 and 18:49 respectively.

Marrijtje Molenhuis filled in the women's final scoring spot, finishing the 5K in 18:57 for a a more than 30-second personal-best finish.

"This is young group who have struggled putting it together," said McManus. "Most of the team has had some great performances, now we just need them to have some consistency for the WAC Championship."

The team's finish produced positive results looking forward to the WAC Championships scheduled for Oct.31. The Bulldogs' placing put them ahead of conference foes San Jose State and Boise State and just behind Hawai'i.

Fresno State has a week off before the conference championships in Reno, Nev., on Oct. 31.

Men's Team Results 8K - 2nd/15 (69)
2. Paul Zwama, 24:33 (2)
13. Frank Sanders, 24:52 (10)
16. Erick Garcia, 24:56 (12)
21. Danny Vartanian, 25:11 (17)
40. Eric Battles, 25:30 (31)
42. Elijah Carrillo, 25:31 (33)
62. Michael Jamieson, 25:49 (50)
101. Mitchell Pfyl, 26:31
109. Carson Keller, 26:42
148. Max Hernandez, 28:09