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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
11/16/2009
The Lady Quistas competed very well at nationals, finishing 21st, the best finish in school history for the team. The NJCAA meet was hosted by Illinois Central College in Peoria. It was a perfect day to race on a tough course. The team was led by sophomore Courtney McAuliffe who finished in the top 100 covering the 5k course in 20:39. She was followed by freshman Lauren Kelly who ran a 20:47. Brittnie Bennett had her best race of the season covering the tough course in 20:57. Sophomore Kaylea Spurlin was the No. 4 runner, just missing the 20s and finishing in 21:07. Kalah St Pierre rounded out the scoring finishing in 21:33.
The team went into nationals ranked 22nd but finished 21st among the 35 teams that attended. This bettered their placing from last year of 22nd and their 2007 finish of 23rd. The team returns three of the top five and four of the top seven next year. Complete results can be found online.
11/12/2009
The Lady Quistas head to Peoria, Ill. this week to run in the NJCAA National Championships on Saturday, November 13, and compete for a top 20 finish.
10/28/2009
With the PHCC 5k results in, the ladies move up to a 20th ranking in the nation.
10/261/2009
The 5th Annual PHCC 5k race was a huge success with the best turnout in school history. The morning was perfect and fast times were had by all. Leading the way for the Quistas was Courtney McAuliffe in a record setting time of 18:45, good enough for first overall woman. Next were Lauren Kelly and Kaylea Spurlin finishing 2nd and 3rd overall respectively and both breaking the 20 minute barrier with times of 19:36 and 19:52. Freshman Brittnie Bennett also broke 20 minutes running 19:56. Overall, the race was a huge success with many of the athletes running personal best times.
10/21/2009
The lady Quistas did it— earned back their top 25 ranking. They are tied for 25th place, earning their third trip to nationals.
10/20/2009
The Lady Quista cross country team headed to Deland on October 16 to try and reclaim their top 25 ranking. Last week the ladies fell out of the top 25 for the first time in three years. The team had a tough race at the Sodexho Stetson Invitational.
Courtney McAuliffe led the team’s best race of the season by finishing in 20:17, a season best. She was followed by freshman Lauren Kelly with a time of 20:50. Kaylea Spurlin and Brittnie Bennett were the Quista’s No. 3 and 4 runners finishing in 21:12 and 21:16 respectively. Rounding out the top five this week was Kalah St Pierre in 22:02. The ladies finished seventh among 20 schools and were the only junior college. This was by far their best meet of the season. This should get them back into the top 25 rankings.
Next up for the ladies is the annual PHCC 5k race on Sunday October 25.
