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Cross country
The 2009 season marks the five year anniversary for the Lady Quista Cross Country team. This will be the fifth season in school history and looking to be the best after two top 25 national finishes in 2007 and 2008. With top returnee Courtney McAuliffe leading the way, a strong recruiting class should propel the team to one of the top 15 teams in the nation. The 2009 high school graduates that join the team this year are: Megan Ibison (Wiregrass Ranch High School), Lauren Kelly (South Lake High School), Kalah St. Pierre (Hudson High School) and Brittnie Bennett (Gulf High School). Many of the top recruits come in with personal bests under the 20 minute mark.
Other returnees that are sure to help the team include: Brittany Colvin, Jessica Peck, Nancy Engel, Katherine Gerry, Kaylea Spurlin, Gabby Vazquez and Maria Anastasion. Coach Jacki Wachtel started the program in July of 2005 after coaching at the high school level for a couple of years. She heads the program after growing up in the New Port Richey area and graduating from River Ridge High School . She went on to Ohio University to run cross country and track. She was an All Conference runner all four years and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2001. Running is still a passion and you will frequently find her running in many of the local races. She recently earned her masters from the University of South Florida in Biostatistics. She and her husband, Brian, live in New Port Richey and are expecting their first daughter in early September. Coach Steve Winterling is the assistant coach and also the head baseball coach. He brings a wealth of knowledge to the program as well as his enthusiasm for running.
If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Coach Jacki Wachtel at 727-816-3397 or wachtej at phcc dot edu.
News
10/26/2008
The weather was ideal for the 4th annual PHCC 5k Race and there were a record number of participants. This was the perfect setting for a record breaking performance by overall winner Kayla Bratcher. Kayla led the women the entire race finishing in 19:48. The first runner in PHCC history to break 20 minutes and the fastest ever time recorded for a female at the annual PHCC road race. Her time should move her up from her 49th ranking in the nation. She will lead the team as they head to nationals on November 7 and 8 at Spartanburg Methodist College.
The men’s race was won by 16 year old Michael Irwin. His time of 18:37 was a 5:59 average per mile. He was followed by Jeffrey Wakefield, also 16 years old. They both run for their high school team in the area. The race had a total of 75 participants and results can be found at www.flrunners.com.
10/20/2008
The 2008 regular season’s last away meet was in Deland at the Sodexho Stetson Hatter Invitational Meet on Friday October 17. The ladies placed seventh in a field of 13 schools (no junior colleges). Kayla Bratcher was the lead runner, once again, for the Quistas. She earned top 20 honors by placing 16th overall. Her time of 20:29 was one of her top three times of the season. She was followed by Courtney McAuliffe (26th in 21:17), Kaylea Spurlin (33rd 22:02), Kimmy Horace (43rd 22:38) and Brittany Colvin (50th 23:01).
Kimmy’s performance was her best race of the season and her first time breaking into the top five runners which comprise the team score. The ladies continue to be ranked in the top 15 with a 14th ranking after the Disney results. Next up for the ladies is the PHCC 5k race on October 26. The race is a great way to support the Quistas. The ladies hope to travel to nationals on November 8 at Spartanburg Methodist Community College.
10/13/2008
The Lady Quista cross country team traveled to Disney to race against a flock of schools from all over the nation. There were 48 teams represented with 44 having full team scores. Although the team was hoping to break the top 20, the ladies ran well finishing 26th out of 44. Of those 44 schools, five were junior colleges making this the Quista’s most important regular season meet.
Freshman Kayla Bratcher ran an incredible race finishing in 20:15. She has been the top runner all year for PHCC. Finishing second on the team was Courtney McAuliffe (21:04) followed by another very strong race by Kaylea Spurlin (21:32). Kaylea has bettered her time by a minute and a half over the last month. Jessica Peck (22:23) and Brittany Colvin (22:30) rounded out the scoring for the ladies.
After the sensational performance at FLrunners.com meet on October 3, the team was ranked 13th in the nation. The rankings come out every Wednesday based on the previous weekend’s results. Next up for the Quistas is the Hatter Invitational hosted by Stetson University on Friday October 17. Don’t forget to come out and support your nationally ranked PHCC Cross Country team on October 26 at the PHCC 5k race.
10/3/2008
For the first time in school history, the Lady Quista cross country team raced Chipola College at the FLrunners.com Invitational on October 3. There were 14 full teams at the meet and the Lady Quistas ran one of their best races ever to finish sixth overall. PHCC team score was 180 to Chipola’s 392 (lowest score wins).
The race was held at beautiful Chain of Lakes Park in Titusville, Fla. The women’s college race was one of the last races on Friday and the Quistas took advantage of a flat course. Leading the way, once again, was freshman Kayla Bratcher. She set a new school record and finished 24th overall in 20:09. Courtney McAuliffe wasn’t too far behind in 20:31 then Jessica Peck in 21:35. Kaylea Spurlin broke 22 minutes for the first time to finish in 21: 47. Brittany Colvin rounded out the top 5 in 22:27. Maria Anastasion ran incredible and came through as the No. 6 runner in 22:52. Kimmy Horace ran seventh for PHCC and finished in 22:54. In all, there were 10 season best times with Nancy Engel 23:16, Gabby Vazquez 23:44 and Katherine Gerry 26:38 also setting personal records for the season (in addition to the top seven runners).
The Quistas beat some tough competition from Florida International University, Flagler College, Rollins College, Warner Southern, Bethune Cookman College, Palm Beach Atlantic University, St. Thomas University and Chipola College. Last week the ladies were ranked 14th in the nation and with this performance hope to move up. Next up is the Disney Wide World of Sports Meet next weekend.
9/29/2008
The Lady Quista cross country team traveled to Tallahassee for the FSU Cross Country Invitational. There was plenty of tough competition waiting for the Conquistadors as they toed the line Saturday morning.
Once again, freshman Kayla Bratcher led the way for the team. She was the team’s first finisher in 20:54. She ran a smart race on a course that had a tough hill they had to run twice. Courtney McAuliffe closed the gap between her and Bratcher finishing just 16 seconds later in 21:10. Freshman Jessica Peck had the best race of her career finishing in 21:52. She was followed by Kaylea Spurlin and Brittany Colvin in 22:07 and 22:19 respectively. Elise Way (22:46) and Kimmy Horace (23:21) were the teams sixth and seventh runners. The team’s time average was 21:40, 18 seconds faster than UF Mountain Dew Invite. The last polls had the ladies ranked 14th in the nation.
Next up for the Quistas is the FLrunners.com invitational where they will finally get to race Chipola Community College (the only other junior college in Florida with a women’s cross country team). They will also face 12 other teams, four of which they have beaten previously this season.
Full results [PDF]
9/22/2008
The Lady Quista Cross Country team had an early morning race on Saturday, September 20 at University of Florida for their second meet of the season.
Kayla Bratcher led the way finishing in 21:02. She was followed by Courtney McAuliffe in 21:32. Elise Way was the third runner in 22:09 with Jessica Peck not too far behind in 22:31. Brittany Colvin stepped it up a notch this week to become the team’s fifth runner rounding out the scoring and finishing in 22:37 which is a personal best. The ladies finished 12th out of 14 schools. They ran against some of the best Division I schools in the nation including University of Florida, University of Miami, University of South Florida and University of Central Florida.
The team fell to 12th in the nation after a bye week last week due to some teams competing for the first time (which were not included in the first week rankings). The Quistas hope to regain their top 10 status in this week’s polls. The next meet for the team is Saturday, September 27 at Florida State University Invitational.
Full results [PDF]
9/11/2008
The Lady Quista cross country team is ranked 10th in the nation in the first week rankings.
9/8/2008
The 2008 PHCC women’s cross country team got off to a fast start in its season opener at Sydney Dover Trails Park. University of Tampa hosted the Early Bird Invitational where 11 women’s teams were in attendance. PHCC was the only junior college in attendance but held their own in an exciting race.
The Quistas were led by freshman Kayla Bratcher who finished 19th in 20:34. She was followed by Courtney McAuliffe in 24th place with a time of 20:52. That is a personal best for Courtney in her collegiate debut. Next for the team was Elise Way placing 32nd. She ran over 2.5 minutes faster than last year and broke 22 minutes for the first time running a 21:52 (previous personal best 23:02). Fourth for the team was Jessica Peck (42nd, 22:23) followed closely by fifth and sixth runners Kaylea Spurlin (44th 22:26) and Jaci Pustelnik (45th 22:28). All of the team had an outstanding performance.
The team worked together and it showed in the team scores. The ladies placed fourth in a field of 11 schools beating Florida Southern, Valdosta State, St. Leo, Warner Southern, Florida College, Flagler and Webber. The team now focuses on their next meet: UF’s Mountain Dew Invitational held November 20 at the University of Florida Golf Course.
Full results [PDF]
