Charleston, S.C. - The Coastal Carolina University men's and women's cross country team both opened up the 2004 seasons with wins at the Roly Poly Invitational hosted by the College of Charleston Sept. 3. The men, running a 5000-meter course, and the women, running a two-mile course, both had plenty of top-10 finishers.
On the men's side, Coastal finished with 25 points, followed by The Citadel with 45, College of Charleston with 52 and Charleston Southern with 111. Junior Nelson Oliveria (Coimbra, Portugal/Qunitas das Flores) won the event with a time of 16:14. Sophomore Doug Currie (Sarnia, Ontario/Sarnia Northern) finished third in a time of 16:19, while junior Johnny Mitchell (Duncan, S.C./Byrnes) finished sixth in a time of 16:28. Freshman Blair Paul (South Queenston, Ontario) had a ninth-place finish at 16:43. Junior Mark Heidecker (Waterford, Pa./Cathedral Prep) finished 10th in a time of 16:47. Freshman Jake Morris (Aiken, S.C./Aiken) was 14th in a time of 17:07Junior Randy Johnson (Fort Mill, S.C./Fort Mill) was 18th in a time of 17:15.
On the women's side, the Lady Chants had 25 points, followed by the College of Charleston with 36 points, The Citadel with 84 points and Charleston Southern with 113 points. Freshman Aubrey Bergquist (Pataskala, Ohio/Watkins Memorial) finished in third place with a time of 12:04. She was followed by senior Kim Nemergut (Youngstown, Ohio/South Range), who finished fourth in a time of 12:12. Senior Lindsey Kozlowski (Thunder Bay, Ontario/Port Arthur Collegiate) was Coastal's third-best finisher, placing fifth at 12:17. Junior Jessica Goeden (Grand Rapids, Mich./Grand Rapids) finished in sixth place in 12:43, while sophomore Danielle Hagler (Beach Haven, N.J./Southern Regional) was seventh at 12:46. Sophomore Eileen Wicker (Quintam, Va./New Kent) had the same time as Hagler and finished eighth and sophomore Nikki Jasperson (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers) rounded out the Lady Chants with a 10th place finish in a time of 12:51.
Both the men's and women's cross country teams travel to Wilmington, N.C., to compete in the UNCW Fall Invitational Friday, Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m.
