July 5, 2007

BOCA RATON, FL - Thanks to several impressive individual performances, the Florida Atlantic University cross country and track and field programs were able to transition seamlessly into the Sun Belt Conference.

The women's cross country squad finished third at the Sun Belt Conference Championship and the men's cross country team had six of seven runners set personal records.

"We were very pleasantly surprised at how well we performed," said Alex Smolka, head coach of both the men's and women's cross country teams as well as the women's track team. "Finishing third in our first year is extremely encouraging, and having two athletes (Trisha Doyle and Friederike Feil) earn all-conference honors is a first in program history."

We were also able to continue our streak of having a freshman named to the conference all-freshmen squad as well, (Feil), which dates back to 2003."

Feil, who broke the school record at the Gator Invitational with a time of 17:48.93, had an absolutely dominating freshman campaign in both cross country and track and field. She posted the program's highest finish for an individual at the NCAA Cross Country Regional (35th) which helped the team to its highest finish in program history at 13th.

The men's team also competed at regionals, finishing 24th.

"We had a very young team (on the men's side), having just one senior and one junior. All of them set personal records at some point and finished the season strong," Smolka said. "Having such a young core will give us the opportunity to have them train together for a long time, and now that they've tasted collegiate competition they will hopefully be able to rise to the challenge."

Both the indoor and outdoor track season had individual Owls turn in spotlight performances as well. Yanique Booth broke the 55m, 60m and 100m outdoor records and was ranked as high as 9th in the east region and 29th in the country in the 100m. She was also the first provisional qualifier for the NCAA indoor national meet in school history.

Patricia Gumbs (800m, outdoor), Trishauna Clarke (100m, outdoor), Brandi Prather (100m, outdoor), Brittany Vollmer (400m, outdoor), Toyria Mattear (heptathlon) and Doyle (10,000m, outdoor) all set personal best times in their individual events.

Doyle's performance broke the school record with a time of 38:37.29 and earned a third-place finish at the conference championship.

Trishauna Clarke also broke the school record in the 55m and 200m dash during the indoor season to highlight her sophomore campaign.

The 4x400m relay team was also able to advance to the NCAA Regional meet thanks to a third-place finish and a qualifying time at the SBC Outdoor Championship. The team, made up of Vollmer, Mattear, Kerry-Ann Stewart and Malika Clary, finished 12th after coming in ranked 13th in the region.

FAU's top individual performance over the course of the year came from Feil. "Iki", as she's known to her teammates, broke the school's 3,000m indoor and outdoor steeplechase record and was named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and Outstanding Track Performer for the indoor season. She won the 3,000m and the 1,600m at the indoor championship to take the two honors.

"To accomplish all of those things as a freshman is very promising," said Smolka. "Especially the victories at a championship meet, with all that pressure."

As a team, the Owls finished eighth at both the indoor and outdoor championships. In a conference where the teams are much deeper in terms of talent than they were in the Atlantic Sun, Smolka knows that the key will be finding athletes who can pick up additional points in several events.

"Moving conferences was certainly a wakeup call in many respects. It is an extremely strong conference overall and it takes a complete team to be successful at this level," said Smolka. "That means we will have to work hard on improving the areas we weren't able to focus on before having an on-campus facility, such as the field events."

Perhaps the biggest development this past season didn't occur during a competition.

FAU opened a new on-campus $4.2 million track and field complex on January 10, 2007, complete with high jump and long jump pits, as well as pole vaulting pits and throwing areas. The new facility also includes a FieldTurf surface on the infield.

Smolka feels the track opens a new chapter for the program in many different ways, but the biggest are the opportunities to host track meets and for recruiting.

"In a way it's almost like a new beginning. To have a track program without a track on campus was challenging, not only from a recruiting aspect but also once they've made that commitment," Smolka said.

Smolka also feels that the individual athlete success this season was in part due to the track, and that the facility has already had an impact on recruiting.

"We've set the bar high early on and we're hoping to continue that success," said Smolka. "We've laid the foundation and we're hoping to build from that. Championship teams are not built overnight, but we're working hard to build a contender here at Florida Atlantic."

The program loses just one senior after the 2006-07 campaign. Malika Clary has exhausted her eligibility in both indoor and outdoor track, but leaves behind important fingerprints on the program's development.

"She's a part of three relay teams that hold school records as well as the 200m outdoor record," said Smolka. "The program is indebted to her and she has certainly left big shoes to fill."

Clary qualified for the NCAA Championship in at least one event all four of her years at FAU.