Oct. 5, 2002

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Kentucky women’s cross country team had a spectacular showing at the Florida Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, Oct. 5. The team took second place in the race, finishing ahead of host Florida and just behind South Florida. Caitlin Phillips took top honors for UK, placing second out of 214 runners with a time of 21:05.87 in the 6k race.

All six Kentucky runners in the women’s race finished in the top 35, while three Cats posted top-10 times. Brooke Patterson took fifth place with a time of 21:30.44, while Allison Grace’s time of 21:36.33 placed eighth. Leah Kerstetter finished 11th with a time of 22:06.69. Also running for UK was Roseline Addo with a 13th-place time of 22:15.62 and Beth Heimann, who posted a time of 23:18.78 for 36th.

South Florida’s Christa Benton won the race, which was run on the UF Golf Course, with a time of 20:55.88. USF’s total time of 1:47:40.57 just edged out UK’s total, 1:48:34.95.

On the men’s side, Kevin O’Connor led the Wildcats in the men’s 8k race with a time of 25:37.21, good enough for 19th. David Freeman was close behind in 20th with a time of 25:49.32. Overall, the men took eighth place out of 24 teams.

The Wildcats continue the 2002 season on Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Auburn Invitational in Auburn, Ala.