Clemson Cross Country Finishes 21st at Pre-Nationals Blue Race Saturday

Oct. 14, 2006

Terre Haute, IN – The Clemson men’s cross country team finished 21st out of 36 teams in the blue race at the Pre-NCAA Championships Saturday at the Wabash Valley Sports Center. Colorado won the blue race and was followed by Florida State and N.C. State in the team standings. The Tigers had two finishers in the race’s top 50 of the individuals.

The top performer Saturday afternoon for the Tiger cross country team was sophomore Bryce Iverson, who was also the team’s best finisher in its last event, the Greater Louisville Classic. The native of Manassas, VA finished 21st in the individual race with a career-best 8K time of 24:06.5. He did not compete in this event a year ago. The race gave him a great look at the same course that will serve as host site for the NCAA Championships in November.

Itay Magidi ran his first race of the season for the Tiger squad after sitting out the first two events. He was solid in his first outing of 2006, as he recorded a 38th-place finish and posted a time of 24:22. It was his best 8000m cross country time, eclipsing his previous best of 24:36.2 at the Pre-Nationals in 2004.

Sam Bryfczynski was a third Tiger to finish in under 25 minutes. The Marietta, GA native scored for the third time in three events for Clemson this season. He won the Clemson Invitational to begin the season, then finished 23rd at the Greater Louisville Classic. Bryfczynski placed 110th on Saturday with his time of 24:55.5. It was his personal best 8000m effort.

The Tigers’ final two scorers were the Soder brothers from Erie, PA. Sean Reilly (26:28.3), but those two did not count toward the Tigers’ team point total.

The Tigers return to action in two weeks to take part in the ACC Cross Country Championships in Earlysville, VA.