September 10, 2008 - The St. Thomas cross country men's and women's teams officially began their 2008 campaign after competing in the Florida Tech Invitational in Melbourne, Florida.  The teams were unable to compete in their first scheduled event, the Early Bird Classic, due to eligibility concerns with the men's team, and added this meet to make up for the lost date.  The men currently have only four eligible runners, and as such were forced to compete as individuals with no team score, and only three of the four entrants successfully finished the 8K course.   The women's team is a much different story, as they fielded eight runners, all of whom completed their 5K run. 

            The women finished with a combined score of 221 points, which placed them 8^th out of the eight teams competing in the event.  Since the men needed a total of six official times to qualify for a team score, but recorded only three, they were not credited with an official result.  Coach Jeff Norman said he liked that his athletes ran hard, but sees that there is a long way to go this season for his group to be competitive.  With only four runners returning between the two teams, Norman expected this type of early-season “fact finding” to take place, and hopes to see improvement from his squad in each upcoming race.

            Sam Jacobsen, who ran for the women's team last year and is now assistant to Coach Norman, also acknowledged that the team needs time to mature.  She described the results from the first competition as a “big, big wake-up call for the team.”  Both she and Norman agree that there is lots of room for improvement with the squad, and are eager to see how their team responds going into their second competition. 

            The hi-lights of the meet for the Bobcats came in the form of unexpected performances from new faces.  Sophomore Amanda Bennett, freshman Noralis Lambert, and senior Koely Kempisty registered the top three times for the women, finishing 38^th, 42^nd, and 45^th out of 55, respectively.  These three newcomers paired with the top returning runner, sophomore Monica Garcia, figure to make up the core of the squad, and Jacobsen says that there is great promise this season for all four.  As for the men, their only returning runner, junior Willie Blankston, turned in the best time of 31:49, good for 49^th place out of the 69 competitors.  Michael Jordan and Kareem George also recorded times, and finished in 59^th and 66^th places respectively. 

            The Bobcats next meet is the Mountain Dew Invitational in Gainesville, Florida on September 20^th. 

Results from the Florida Tech Invitational (September 10^th, Melbourne, Florida)

Men (8K, 69 competitors) – No Team Score

Willie Bankston – 31:49 (49^th)

Michael Jordan – 34:26 (59^th)

Kareem George – 40:36 (66^th)

Women (5K, 55 competitors) – Team score: 221 (8^th of 8 teams)

Amanda Bennett – 24:32 (38^th)

Noralis Lambert – 25:51 (42^nd)

Koely Kempisty – 26:44 (45^th)

Monica Garcia – 27:29 (47^th)

Stephanie Ricardo – 28:27 (49^th)

Jenny Sanchez – 28:36 (51^st)

Nicole Sanchez  - 31:42 (54^th)

Jenny Rodriguez – 31:57 (55^th)