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November 13, 2004
Slugs Finish Three Spots Better than 2003 Finish

CHINO, CA -- UC Santa Cruz Women's Cross Country finished out their 2004 season on Saturday, November 13th at the DIII West Region Championships in Chino, CA. The Lady Slugs finished 9th out of 15 teams with 272 points, three spots better than their '03 finish. Tamara Torlakson capped off a stellar freshman year as the top finisher for the Slugs over the 6K course at Prado Park. She ran 24:36, good for 42nd place and just seven spots shy of All-Region honors. Sophomore Olivia Vegh crossed the line next in 59th place with a time of 25:15. Just five seconds behind her in 61st was Freshman Bree Justus. Fourth finisher for the Slugs and 71st overall was Junior Danielle Zelinski in 25:53. Rounding out the scoring for the squad in 73rd place was Freshman Carina Hendricks in 26:04. Also competing for the Banana Slugs was Team Captain Holly Shisler and Sophomore Anne Shultz in 83rd and 90th respectively. Willamette University won the meet with 43 points, followed closely by Colorado College's 53 points. Both teams qualified for the NCAA DIII Championships in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on November 20th. Colorado College showed vast improvement; they finished 9th in the Region in '03.
See Results

October 16, 2004
Women's Cross Country Team Wins Mills Invite

OAKLAND, CA -- The UCSC Women's Cross Country team competed against local bay area colleges this Friday at the Mills Invitational. UCSC won the meet for the 3rd year in a row, lead by Freshmen Tamara Torlakson's 4th place finish in 20 minutes and 16 seconds. Sophomore Olivia Vegh continues to make vast improvements this season as she was UCSC's second runner finishing in 7th, just 26 seconds behind Torlakson.

As a team, UCSC finished with 37 points, beating out Division I St. Mary's College with 53 points and third place finishers Notre Dame de Namur (63 points). The rest of the competition was filled out by NAIA schools in the Cal Pac conference.

UCSC clearly showed that they are one of the top running teams in Northern California with this win, and look forward to another strong finish this weekend at the Shoreline Open.

October 9, 2004
Slugs Outpace CSUMB

SANTA CRUZ, CA -- The women's cross country team raced against CSU Monterey Bay this past weekend in the 60th running of UCSC's Cardiac Pacer. Head Coach Adam Boothe gave his top 4 runners the weekend off, running sophomore Olivia Vegh and 4 freshmen. UCSC defeated DII CSUMB by three points, 26 to 29, Vegh was the overall winner finishing in a time of 23 minutes 10 seconds.

On Friday the Slugs travel to race in the Mills Invitational where they are 3-time winners and Junior Danielle Zelinski looks to defend her individual title.
See Cardiac Pacer Results

October 2, 2004
Cross Country Runners Exceed Personal Records

SALEM, OR -- The Willamette Invitational lived up to its top billing on Saturday, and the UCSC Women's Cross Country team proved up to the challenge. The squad finished 15th, beating several Division III West Region teams in the proccess.

Most of the ladies ran PR's over the fast 5K course at Bush's Pasture Park in Salem, including Junior Danielle Zelinski, who finished 38th in 18:44. Tamara Torlakson(FR) also ran a big PR of 19:29, finishing 89th overall. Bree Justus and Carina Hendricks also continued their strong freshman season, finishing 106th and 113th. Olivia Vegh(SO), in her first race of the season, was the Slugs fifth finisher in 20:11. Anne Shultz(FR), Holly Shisler(JRr), and Marrield Berry(FR) rounded out the great day of racing for the Lady Slugs.

Teams finishing behind UCSC include Whitman, Linfield, and Lewis & Clark College, all of whom beat the Slugs at West Regional Championships a year ago.

Coming up for the Lady Slug harriers is thier home meet, the UCSC Cardiac Pacer, at 10am this Saturday October 9th. The start and finish will be at the East Field House at UCSC. Come out and watch the up and coming Lady Slugs on their home turf!
See Willamette Results

September 18, 2004
Lady Slugs Finish First Among DIII Teams

SAN DIEGO, CA -- The Lady Slugs ran in the Aztec Invitational this past Saturday in San Diego; finishing 4th overall and 1st among NCAA Division III teams. Junior Danielle Zelinski was once again the top runner for the Slugs, finishing 18th in 20:32 over the 5k course at Balboa Park. The freshman trio of Bree Justus, Tamara Torlakson, and Carina Hendricks finished right behind Zelinski in 20th, 22nd, and 26th respectively. Senior team captain Holly Shisler rounded out the scoring for the squad in 43rd place. Marrield Berry (FR), and Kristen Lee (FR) also ran well in their first race in UCSC uniforms. Most impressive for the squad was the fact that only 18 seconds separated the first to fourth finishers for the Slugs.

Next up for the team is the Willamette Invite in Salem, Oregon on Oct. 2nd. The meet is the largest Division III meet in the Northwest and will have many of the West Region's top teams participating.
See Aztec Results

Preview 2004-05 Season

The Lady Slugs of UCSC Cross Country start their 2004 season with much to be happy about. Coming off their first ever NCAA Regional appearance last year, Head Coach Adam Boothe has brought in some new faces to the mix that are sure to add to the core of returning runners. Freshmen Carina Hendricks, Bree Justus, and Tamara Torlakson were all Cross Country State Qualifiers in High School, and Marrield Berry was awarded the Charlie Wedemeyer scholarship as a senior at Santa Teresa High in San Jose.

The squad's top two runners from last year, Danielle Zelinski (Jr) and Anne Shultz (So), are back to lead the way; as well as Team Captain Holly Shisler (Jr). Olivia Vegh (So), Diana Hay (Sr), and Jen Uhlig (Jr) are also key returners. After an excellent summer of training and the loss of only member of last year's team, the Lady Slugs are ready to improve on last years results and start a new era of successful distance running at UC Santa Cruz!

November 17, 2003
Lady Slugs Make First Appearance at DIII Regionals

ESTACADA, OR -- The UC Santa Cruz Women's Cross Country team finished 12th in the NCAA Division III West Regional Championships on Saturday in Portland, Oregon. It was the Lady Slugs first ever appearance in the Regional meet that decides what teams move on to NCAA Championships next Monday. The team had problems early on in the 3.72 mile race as Sophomore Danielle Zelinski, the team's top runner for the past two years, suffered a asthma attack about a mile into the race. Amazingly she managed to finish the race, but ended up fourth for the Slugs. Sophomore Anne Shultz was the top finisher for the Slugs on this day in 54th place with a time of 24:24. Next to cross the line was Junior Holly Shisler in 24:42, good for 61st. Diana Hay ran 25:17 to finish 76th, just ahead of Zelinski, who ran 25:36. Top Freshman Olivia Vegh finished 82nd and ran 25:39. Junior Kai Parker and Sophomore Jen Uhlig rounded out the team effort for the Slugs finishing 85th and 94th respectively. The twelfth place finish makes the Slugs the fifth best team among California's Division III teams.
Team and Individual Results (c. Northwest Conference Online)

OAKLAND, CA -- The UC Santa Cruz Women’s Cross Country team won the 16th Annual Mills College Invitational in Oakland, CA for the second straight year on Saturday. Sophomore Danielle Zelinski also won the individual title for the second straight year, in a time of 19:41 for 5K. The Slug's Top 5 scored 24 points in the victory. Anne Shultz (SO4th-20:52), Kai Parker (JR5th-20:58), Diana Hay (JR6th-21:11), Holly Shisler (SO8th-21:14), and Jen Uhlig (SO33rd-24:14) rounded out the top 6 for the Slugs. In winning the meet, the Slugs beat University of the Pacific and University of San Francisco, both Division I teams.

The next race for the Slugs is their home meet, the UCSC Twilight Invite 5K on campus this Friday, October 17th at 5:00pm.
Team and Individual Results (c. Mills College)

SALEM, OR -- The women's Cross Country team competed at the Willamette Invitational in Salem, Oregon on Saturday. The meet featured over 71 teams from around the country. The ladies raced in the Women's 5K College Race against 28 teams, 18 of which are currently nationally ranked.

Danielle Zelinski was once again the top finisher for the Slugs, finishing 86th overall in a time of 19:28. Anne Shultz was second for the squad in 19:48. The team finished 20th in the race, beating three Division III teams in the process. Also, four of the five runners for Santa Cruz set personal bests on the fast course in Salem. The next race for the women is at Mills College in Oakland this Friday. Last year, the team won the meet at Mills with a perfect score of 15! Look for them to dominate the field again this year.
Team & Individual Results (c. Willamette U.)

The UCSC Women's Cross-Country team traveled to Hawaii last week to compete in the Big Wave Invitational against 10 other teams. The ladies finished 10th and beat the other Division II team in the race, Chaminade University. Sophomore Danielle Zelinski in a time of 15:51 was the top finisher for UC Santa Cruz as well as tops among DIII runners. Kai Parker also had an outstanding race finishing 66th overall in a time of 16:45. The next race for the women will be the Willamette Invite on October4th.

Big Push: UCSC's first season in Women's X-Country has been a great one.

The UCSC Women's Cross-Country team, coming off its first season as a varsity program, is hosting a 5k Fundraising race on Sunday, May 25th. The race will begin at 9:00 am, and will start on Heller Ave near UCSC's West Fieldhouse.

It will feature the beautiful rolling hills of UCSC's upper campus.

Download applications to enter by clicking here.

November 13, 2002
Women's X-Country places 9th at Regionals

FRESNO, CA -- The UCSC Women's Cross-Country team, running in the NAIA Western Regionals in just its first season, came in at a respectable 9th place at the competition hosted by Fresno Pacific University.

Freshman runner Danielle Zellinski was the top finisher for UCSC, running the 5 kilometer race in 19:33; 25th place overall. UCSC was facing predominantly well-established programs with scholarships, as opposed to UCSC's program, which has yet to have a formal recruiting class.

The team, which prior to this season had only competed as a club sport, is in its first year as an NCAA / NAIA program under Head Coach Rachel Cook.

UCSC had advanced to the Regionals by dominating their conference meet last month. 7 of the top 11 finishers of that race were from UCSC.

October 28, 2002
Women's X-Country wins Cal Pac Championship in first year of competition

OAKLAND, CA -- The UCSC Women's Cross-Country team dominated the Cal Pac Conference Championships on Friday, finishing with four of the top five runners.

The team, which prior to this season had only competed as a club sport, is in its first year as an NCAA / NAIA program under Head Coach Rachel Cook.

UCSC won all of its previous Cal Pac meets, and faced little real competition at the Conference Championships, which were hosted by Holy Names College.

The team finished with 7 of the top 11 runners, accumulating 22 points. Cal State Hayward finished a distant second with 68 points.

UCSC Freshman Danielle Zellinski came in first place overall, finishing nearly a full minute ahead of the next runner.

The team now looks forward to attending the NAIA Regionals November 9th in Fresno.

10/14/02
Women's Cross-Country dominates Mills Invitational

OAKLAND, CA -- The UCSC Women's Cross Country team dominated this year's Mills Invitational on Friday. All top four finishers were from UCSC, and Banana Slugs finished in seven of the top nine spots as the team continued its dominance of Cal Pac opponents. The team's next meet will be this coming Friday as the journey to San Luis Obispo for a meet hosted by Division I Cal Poly.

For complete results from the Mills match, please click here.

9/27/02
Women's Cross-Country competes at Stanford Invitational

PALO ALTO, CA -- The UCSC Women's Cross Country team will be one of many teams participating in the 29th Annual Stanford Invitational this Saturday, September 28. The event is one of the largest cross country meets in the nation with 4099 participants entered in the meet. The event will be held at the Stanford Golf Course and features 20 high school and collegiate races. The starting line is near the second tee of the Stanford Golf Course with parking and a shuttle service to the starting line available at the corner of Stock Farm Drive and Campus Drive. Complete individual and team results of the 2002 Stanford Invitational will be available at gostanford.com approximately two hours after the end of the event. If you have questions about results, please contact Kyle McRae (650-725-2959/kyle.mcrae@stanford.edu). If you have questions about entries, please contact the cross country office (650-723-2736).The schedule of events is listed below.

[Portions of this article courtesy of Stanford Media Relations.]