Maryland Cross Country Takes On The Nation's Best In Indiana

Oct. 2, 2002

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland cross country team travels to Terra Haute, Ind., to compete in the highly anticipated Indiana State Invitational this Saturday, Oct. 5. Hosted by Indiana State University, the meet gives Maryland the chance to race against several nationally ranked teams as well as regional foes.

This Weekend's Action

The Indiana State Invitational will be held on Oct. 5, 2002, at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terra Haute, Ind. The course supports a 6,000 meter race for the women and an 8,000 meter race for the men.

This weekend marks the return of Maryland's top four men and women runners, who sat out last weekend's Paul Short Invitational to rest for the Indiana State Invite.

The Terp reserves, who turned in a strong performance last week at the Paul Short run, will travel to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore campus this weekend to compete in the Maryland Championships.

Teams To Beat

There are 21 women's teams competing in the Indiana State Invitational, five of which hold national rankings: Boston College (6th), Arkansas (14th), Villanova (19th), Michigan (22nd) and Colorado State (24th).

The men will face six nationally ranked programs out of 21 schools at the Invite, including: Villanova (6th), Michigan State (15th), Colorado State (17th), Indiana (20th), Alabama (24th) and Butler (25th).

The Terp women will have a second chance to compete with Navy, the school that captured the Navy Invitational earlier this season by a narrow two-point margin over Maryland.

Recapping The Paul Short Invitational

The women's team placed 10th out of 23 Division I and II teams last weekend at the Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh University. Their finish was dramatically higher than in 2001, when they took 23rd out of 39 teams.

Freshman Allison Carney (Las Vegas, Nev.) had a breakout performance last weekend in Bethlehem, Pa. Her time of 22:18.94 earned her 27th place out of 241 runners and bested her personal record. Sophomore Courtney Fiorovanti (Toms River, N.J.) and freshman Amie Shomette (Monrovia, Md.) also had top-100 finishes at the Paul Short, placing 68th and 75th, respectively.

The men's team won 17th out of 24 Division I and II teams. This finish marked an improvement from last year, when they placed 19th out of 39 teams.

The fastest finisher for the Maryland men was sophomore Mike Fleg (Clarksville, Md.), who took 43rd place with a 25:33.14. His time was more than one minute faster than his time at last year's Paul Short Invitational. Also finishing well for the Terps were sophomore Florent Groberg (Potomac, Md.), who finished in 108th place, and freshman Natty Zola (Boulder, Col.), who took 116th out of 233 runners.

Terp Talk

Junior Kim Smith (Glastonbury, Conn.) on the teams' morale: "We've been working really hard, and we've been really dedicated. We're excited and confident that we will do well this weekend."

Junior Mike Prada (Fulton, Md.) on facing the nation's top teams: "I keep telling everyone that we're not a transition team anymore-we're a good team. This weekend, we get a chance to prove it."

Head coach Trent Sanderson on his expectations for this weekend: "We are feeling really good about the possibility of being ranked in our region after Indiana this weekend. Part of the team is traveling to the Maryland Championships this weekend and I have high expectations for our athletes there, too. The preparations are there; now we have to go out and prove it."

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