49ers continue to improve

By Jimmy Chai., On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, September 10, 1998

The UNLV Invitational, which was to be held Saturday, was found to be a mistake on the Long Beach State cross country's schedule, according to Andy Sythe, cross country head coach. The team's next meet will be Sept. 19 at the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.

So far Sythe has been pleased with his runners and their talents, which were displayed at the Titan Invitational in Fullerton Sept. 5.

"We made tremendous improvements," Sythe said. "All five of our women runners all had lifetime bests ... and the [men's] team made significant improvement over last year ... nine men had lifetime bests."

In the women's 5000-meter run, Bree Frigo, who finished in eighth place, set a Long Beach State course record with a time of 18-minutes, 44 seconds. Monica Macmanus, who finished 12th, and Kim Jackson, who finished 20th, set new personal highs.

"All together, I think we are a stronger team," said Jackson, who is captain of the women's squad. "We are more confident."

Last year, the men's team finished second to last in the 8000-meter run, Sythe said. This year, the team finished third behind Cal State Fullerton Alumni and Cal State Fullerton.

One of the biggest improvements came from Derek Decicco, who placed first on the team and 17th overall. Last year, Decicco finished last in this meet.

"Redemption," said Decicco. "I trained over the summer. I know I can run fast, and now, I just did it."

Decicco kept a steady pace throughout the course and finished two-hundredths of a second ahead of teammate Andy Fondacaro, who finished 18th overall.

Decicco's time placed him second on the all-time course record list, while Fondacaro finished third on that same list.