Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada Twilight
Sellick Wins Cross Country Opener
9/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Cross Country
Sept. 4, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - Roxanne Sellick returned to cross country with a bang Friday night. After redshirting last season, Sellick came back in full force at the cross country team's season opener, the Nevada Twilight, winning the 4K women's event.
Both Fresno State's men's and women's teams debuted the season with the Twilight that, with shorter-than-normal race courses of 4K and 6K, allows teams to test out their legs before hitting the more traditional distances of 5K and 8K.
The women's team finished fourth while the men's team took third to start the season.
Sellick, a redshirt senior, ran a stellar 15:18, dominating the competition from Stanford, Nevada, UC Irvine and Shasta College, to beat the nearest competitor by more than ten seconds.
"Roxanne has been training hard and just dying to start racing," said cross country coach Sean McManus. "And she was impressive. She beat some really good competitors, so this is a great start for her."
Senior Marissa McPhail crossed in second for the Bulldogs, timing in at 16:12 for tenth overall. Junior transfer Veronica Paredes filled in the No. 3 spot for Fresno State, finishing in 19th with a time of 16:35. Jennifer Hernandez ran a 16:59 for 23rd while Pamela Cruz rounded out the Top 5 scorers for the Bulldogs with a 26th place finish at 17:32.
"Our plan was to run conservatively in the beginning to help some of the team in their first collegiate race," said McManus. "This was the first collegiate race for Veronica, Pamela and Stevie. They ran really well and worked together as a team."
A duo of underclassmen led the men's team as freshman Danny Vartanian and sophomore Eric Battles took seventh and eighth, respectively, for the Bulldog's top two spots. Vartanian, running in his Fresno State debut, ran a 20:42 in the 6K. Battles, who had a stellar 2008 season, was just one tick back at 20:43 for eighth.
"Danny and Eric worked well together," said McManus.
Paul Zwama, Carson Keller and Andrew Campbell finished 15-16-17 in their first cross country races for Fresno State. Zwama, who ran track last spring, but is in his first cross country season, timed in at 21:04 for 15th overall. Keller, a freshman, was a half step back to time a 21:04 as well for 16th. Campbell, a redshirt freshman, rounded out the team's five scorers at 21:17 for 17th.
"We had the men start pretty conservatively as well because we had five newcomers," said McManus. "So we were behind nearly everyone and they guys worked their way forward really well. Everyone just started moving up and did a great job. It was good to see our guys make those kind of moves, especially Danny and Eric passing the UC Irvine pack, and prove they could overtake other competitors."
"There's going to be a learning curve for both our teams this year," said McManus. "But I think its going to move quickly and we have a great season to look forward to this year."
The Bulldogs will next compete at to the UC Irvine Invitational on Sept. 13.
Women's Team - 4th/5
1. Roxanne Sellick, 15:18
10. Marissa McPhail, 16:12
19. Veronica Paredes, 16:35
23. Jennifer Hernandez, 16:59
26. Pamela Cruz, 17:32
28. Stevie Brumwell, 17:41
33. Sasha Souder, 19:40
Men's Team - 3rd/4
7. Danny Vartanian, 20:42
8. Eric Battles, 20:43
15. Paul Zwama, 21:04
16. Carson Keller, 21:04
17. Andrew Campbell, 21:17
18. Michael Jamieson, 21:30
20. Mitchell Pfyl, 21:44
21. Elijah Carrillo, 21:45
22. Max Hernandez, 21:55
"We Are Your Team!" For all the up to date information on the Fresno State cross country team log on to gobulldogs.com.
Players Mentioned
