49er Cross Country Picked Sixth on Each Side
Beach Opens the Season at CS Fullerton on Saturday
August 30, 2007
IRVINE-- The Long Beach State cross country teams were each picked to
finish sixth in the Big West Conference. UC Santa Barbara was picked to
win the conference on the women's side, as the 49er women had 37 points,
while the 49er men had 26 points to Cal Poly's unanimous 64 points. The
team, under a new distance coach in Patrick Cunniff, will take part in
the Fullerton Invitational hosted by Cal State Fullerton on Saturday to
open the season. The women's race will begin at 8:45 am and the
men will start at 9:15 am. Both races will be held at Carbon Canyon Regional
Park in Brea. The team is on its best two-year run in school history.
Junior Kristina Wilson and sophomores Missy Barclay and Jennifer Rodriguez
are the top returning runners for the 49er women as The Beach finished
second in the Big West Conference last year. Senior Eli Rodriguez and
Junior Dylan Jaedtke will be looked upon to led the 49er men to another
successful year after finishing fourth in 2006.
FORTY-NINERS CONTINUE WINNINGS WAYS: Long Beach
State cross country exceeded their expectations in 2006 as they had a
record-breaking season. The 49ers tied the 2005 squads with the best-combined
finish at the Big West Championships. The women who were picked to finish
third in the conference placed second, tying the 1989 squad for the best
women's finish in school history. The men, who had to reload after
losing their top two runners to graduation finished fourth (picked to
finish fifth). The program's performance made the 2005-2006 seasons
the best two-year run in school history.
CUNNIFF NAMED NEW DISTANCE COACH: Patrick Cunniff
takes over the duties as distance coach as he spent the last two years
as an assistant at Texas Christian University. Cunniff coached six NCAA
Division-I National Championship qualifiers during his two years at TCU
(2004-06), including three cross country student-athletes. The TCU women
finished second at the Conference USA Championships in 2004 and at the
'04 South Central Regional a TCU runner won the individual cross country
championship. Cunniff coached 10 student-athletes to individual conference
championships during his tenure (1 cross country, 6 indoor, 3 outdoor).
During the spring of 2006 Cunniff served as the interim head coach at
TCU. He began his coaching career as a volunteer assistant coach for women's
track and cross country at the University of Texas. In his time at UT
the Longhorns won the 2003 and 2004 Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships
while also winning the 2003 South Central Regional Cross Country title.
For the past year he has served as a program coach and team coordinator
for Luke's Locker, an adult program in 5k, 10k and marathon training.
Cunniff earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia with
a degree in political science. He was a three-year letterwinner in cross
country and track for the Bulldogs.
BIG WEST PRE-SEASON POLLS
WOMEN
1. UC Santa Barbara (two first place), 71 points
2. UC Irvine (3), 70 points
3. UC Riverside (3), 67 points
4. Cal Poly (1), 49 points
4. UC Davis, 49 points
6. Long Beach State, 37 points
7. CS Fullerton, 35 points
8. CS Northridge, 17 points
9. Pacific, 10 points
MEN
1. Cal Poly (8), 64 points
2. UC Santa Barbara, 55 points
3. UC Riverside, 40 poitns
4. UC Davis, 38 points
4. UC Irvine, 38 points
6. Long Beach State, 26 points
7. CS Fullerton, 19 points
8. CS Northridge, 8 points
