Buckley And Capellino Lead Trojans At Team Time Trial
October 03, 2011 | Women's Cross Country
Oct. 3, 2011
Trojan standouts Shelby Buckley and Erica Capellino tied for first place as the USC women's cross country team held a very successful and competitive 5K intra-squad time trial at Griffith Park on Saturday, Oct. 1 with 11 runners finishing under 19 minutes. The Cardinal upset the Gold team by a score of 25.5 to 30.5.
The redshirt junior Buckley of the Gold team and the freshman Capellino of the Cardinal team both finished with a time of 17:51 on the relatively flat course which featured running on cement, grass and soft dirt.
"I was very happy with the way that Erica (Capellino) and Shelby (Buckley) pushed the pace in the first mile of the race," said USC cross country head coach Tom Walsh. "Both runners ran a very controlled race and looked strong the entire race."
Freshman Kira Soderstrom of the Cardinal team had a breakout race finishing third with a time of 18:18, followed by fellow freshman and Cardinal team member Shannon Byrne who finished with a time of 18:32. Finishing fifth was sophomore Katie DeYoung of the Gold team with a time of 18:33.
"Kira made a huge break through today by really pushing the first mile of the race and keeping it going in the middle of the race," said Walsh. "She has been sick during the first month of the season, but she is finally healthy and strong. Shannon Byrne and Katie DeYoung both ran a strong last mile and look like they will have no problem handling the 6K distance."
Freshman Austin Lundin of the Cardinal team placed sixth with a time of 18:36.
"Austin Lundin ran a PR of 18:36 and continues to improve each week of the season," added Walsh.
The rest of the finishers in order were freshman Erin Matranga (Gold) at 18:44 in seventh, freshman Erin Robinson (Gold) at 18:45 in eighth, junior Kelly Owen at 18:45 (Gold) in ninth, sophomore Jaclyn Walles (Gold) at 18:46 in 10th, redshirt junior Jessica Lundin (Cardinal) at 18:46 in 11th and sophomore Anna Burger (Cardinal) at 20.03 in 12th.
"I am very happy with this young Trojan team's progress thus far," said Walsh. "We had a total of 5 PR's on Saturday and this team is really moving in the right direction. We are looking forward to running at Northridge in two weeks. It will be the first 6k of the season for the Women of Troy."
Players Mentioned
