Cross country season ends at Big West meet

By Jennifer Umaña
Daily Forty-Niner

The season may be over for most of the Long Beach State cross country team after this past weekend, but the way the season progressed is indicative of the positive direction the program is headed in.

The 2000 Big West Conference Championships, hosted by UC Santa Barbara, was held Saturday. The LBSU women's team placed seventh out of nine teams and the men came in eighth out of eight. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo came in first place on both sides.

The performance at the meet did not meet the team's expectations and did not exemplify the ability of the runners, said Head Coach Andy Sythe.

"It was a little bit of an off day and that makes a difference," he said.

The women's team moved up a spot from last year's eighth place finish at the BWC Championships.

"We had some women do well," Assistant Coach Dana Colligan Gutierrez said. "It wasn't the best races for some of the other women."

Colligan Gutierrez noted the performances of seniors Mary Colburn and Christine Riel, who topped LBSU's top runner from last year at the same meet, Monica MacManus who came in 25.th.

Colburn and Riel's experience helped them get through the tough course, Colligan Gutierrez said.

"For someone who is not as experienced, it's tougher mentally," she said.

The top runner for LBSU on the women's side was Colburn who came in 14th out of 77 runners in the 5K with a time of 19:24. She was followed by Riel who placed 22nd at 19:37.

The men's team was plagued by illnesses, Colligan Gutierrez said.

"I hate to make excuses, but that wasn't their best performance," she said. "Some individuals did well. But we want to have a total team effort."

Freshman Aaron Durham was the top freshman in the men's 8K. He placed 14th out of 72 runners at 26:21. Senior Derek DeCicco was 33rd at 27:04 and freshman Brian Stehmeier was 44th at 27:31. In 55th place was senior Larry Henderson.

Colligan Gutierrez said she felt the season as a whole was a success.

"It's disappointing when you don't come out as one of the top teams of the meet," she said. "But this a good start for the future, what we've done this season."

Colligan Gutierrez said that some of the team's goals for the season were to build up the program, create team unity and support each other.

"We've been accomplishing that," she said. "We've been successful."

The coaches have tentatively chosen three men and three women to be sponsored by the team to go on to the NCAA West Region Championships in Fresno on Nov. 11.

Their decision is based on a variety of factors, Colligan Gutierrez said, including health, grades and readiness.