Eric Causey Races to Individual Title to Open 2013 Season
8/31/2013 2:48:00 PM
inShare.0Complete Results
SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco sophomore Eric Causey raced to the individual title in the USF Cross Country Invitational Saturday at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park.
The Encinitas, Calif., native relied on a conservative team-oriented start and a strategically timed kick to outpace the competition and cover the 8,000 meter course in 25.11.5, three seconds ahead of his closest competitor.
"Our team strategy was to stay together for the first three miles of the race, and Eric did a good job of that," head coach Helen Lehman-Winters said after the win. "He was chomping at the bit a little bit to get it going because he's so competitive, but he measured it off really well. He did it the right way and really kept getting after it in the last two miles. Obviously, it's nice for him to walk away with a win – it's always nice to open up the season with a win on your home course."
Causey becomes the third USF competitor to turn in an individual championship performance at the home meet. The last Don to win the event was USF's only West Coast Conference individual champion, Cheyne Inman, who took the meet title in 2006.
"I was a pretty good amount behind originally because I was running as a group and I had to catch up to that front pack which wasn't easy and I settled into that for a little bit," Causey said as explained his winning strategy. "It started stringing out and I figured he's only 10 or 15 meters in front of me, why not just try to go get it. I really wasn't thinking about if I was going to get first or second, I was just trying to give it my best and I place what I place.
"I definitely think there was a little bit of a sense in the air when I was starting to run a little harder; a home meet – it would be cool if I won it, and I was like you know what, I'll give it what I got. I had a good summer of training so I figured I've probably got it in me to win it."
Causey's first-place finish helped the team to third in the overall standings and 63 total team points, coming in behind Stanford and California. Jarrett Moore was USF's second man to cross the finish line with a time of 25:50.3 and a 12th-place finish. Nick Hicks completed the course in 25:58.9 to land in 14th. Gustavo Mena, Tom Bradley and Patrick Kunkel each earned a spot in the top 20 for the Dons and counted toward the team score.
"They did a great job of packing through the first three miles, and then everybody found somebody in that second half of the race, which was good," Lehman-Winters said. "The goal was to get as deep as you can into the race as a unit and then make sure that we're working with somebody over the last 1,000 meters, which I think we did fairly successfully."
The Dons have a training break in the schedule before expecting to compete at the Stanford Invitational on Sept. 28.
USF Results:
1. Eric Causey – 25:11.5
12. Jarrett Moore – 25:50.3
14. Nick Hicks – 25:58.9
17. Gustavo Mena – 26:08.2
19. Tom Bradley – 26:20.8
20. Patrick Kunkel – 26:23.7
21. Sean Gomes – 26:42.8
Omar Solis – 27:17.3
Robert Leija – 28:24.6
Katoa Ahau – 28:56.1
Carl Janvier – 31:00.1
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