From the bench

Cross country, soccer win big during weekend

By Loren Kopff, Forty-Niner On-line
Oct. 11, 1994

Cross country

For the first time during his six years at Cal State Long Beach, cross country coach Andy Sythe earned an invitational win. The 49er men's and women's cross country teams finished in first place at the UNLV Invitational Saturday in Las Vegas.

The men, who competed with Southern Utah and Creighton, finished with 29 points. The top 49er runner was freshman Pat Bendzick, who finished in third overall with a time of 26:37.

The next two spots in the standings went to 49er runners as well. Freshman Dennis Sweningson finished with a time of 27:00 and senior Octavio Camacho was right behind with a time of 27:22.

"They have really come a long way," Sythe said of the men's team. "I kind of demanded them to win. We had to believe we could win."

The women competed with five other schools: Hawaii, Southern Utah, UNLV, Nevada and Creighton. The 49er women finished with 44 points.

Leading the way was senior Lisa Bower, who came in fourth overall with a time of 19:06. Two other runners finished in the top 10.

Sophomore Christa Ayuso finished fifth with a time of 19:14, and sophomore Tanya Futami followed in eighth place with a time of 19:28.

"The women are in a battle for third place in the Big West Conference," Sythe said. "We ran a lot better than last week."

"We try to bring a winning attitude here," Sythe added. "It was a real experience for them. It felt great (to finish first)."

The cross country team will compete in the Arizona State Invitational Friday in Tempe, Ariz. It will be the last invitational before the postseason meets begin.

Women's soccer

The CSULB women's soccer team played two games this past weekend, winning one and losing the other.

Saturday, the team lost to Redlands 3-2. Scoring for the 49ers were Kathy Fallon and Robyn Kobayashi.

The 49ers bounced back Sunday and defeated Cal State Northridge, 3-1. Noelle Rost, Marcella Witte and Juli Kalman each scored. The 49ers are 3-4 on the season.

The team will next be in action Wednesday with a road game at Cal Baptist. The next home game will be Saturday against UC Riverside.

Men's soccer

The men's soccer team picked up its second win of the season, defeating UC Riverside, 3-1, Thursday at Riverside.

Scoring for the 49ers were Scott Loughney, Joel Weinmeister and Chris Fontal.

The team's next game will be Saturday at Pepperdine. The next home game will be Oct. 22 against UC Riverside.

Quote of the weekend:

"They're (Pacific) going to see what we can do. I guarantee it. They're going to see Long Beach State volleyball. That's for sure."
- Allyson Carpenter, sophomore outside hitter, CSULB women's volleyball.

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