Fresno State cross country runner sets record after near two-year absence
Fresno State’s Annemarie Schwanz ran to a program record this past weekend – even though she hadn’t raced in a cross country event in nearly two years.
Competing at the the UW Sundodger Invitational, Schwanz finished the 6,000 meters in 20 minutes, 19:30 seconds to break the school record by 11 seconds while finishing third. The old mark was set by Carina Mendoza in 2013.
Schwanz, a native of Neurrupin, Germany, now owns school records in the 5-kilometer and 6K events. She elected not to compete in cross country last season after she qualified for the NCAA West Regionals in spring 2015.
Schwanz also was named the Mountain West Runner of the Week for the second time in her Bulldogs career after finishing behind a pair of Washington runners, who each came in at 20:18.50.
On the men’s side, Matt Kwiatkowski was the top finisher for the Bulldogs for the second meet in a row, taking 12th overall in 24:38.30 at the 8K invitational.
The Bulldogs next compete Oct. 1 at the Stanford Invitational.
Women’s soccer – Fresno State goalkeeper Alex Best was named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week.
The freshman from Studio City helped Fresno State extend its winning streak to five matches with a 2-1 victory against St. Mary’s and a 1-0 victory against Montana. She did not allow a goal in 139 minutes and had seven saves in the two matches.
The Bulldogs (5-3) open conference play at Nevada at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Men’s golf – The Bulldogs finished seventh Tuesday at the 18-team Ram Masters Invitational at Fort Collins (Colo.) Country Club at 22-over par as Justin Avery (69-68-77) and Alex Lee (80-67-67) tied for 14th at 4-over 214. Host Colorado State, with medalist Blake Cannon coming in at 7 under, won the tournament at 4 over.
Last week, Fresno State’s Trevor Clayton, who tied for 21st at 216 in Fort Collins, secured a top-10 finish at the USF Olympic Invitational after finishing 3-over at 68-74-74–216.
Fresno State next hosts its annual fall tournament, the Nick Watney Invitational, Oct. 3-4 at San Joaquin Country Club.
Women’s golf – Sophomore Kristin Simonsen led the Bulldogs at Colorado State’s Ptarmigan Ram Classic, tying for 33rd at 81-75-72–228 during the two-day tournament last week.
Joanna Kim, the Bulldogs’ 36-hole leader, shot a final round 5-over 77 to finish tied for 42nd at 73-81-77–231.
San Jose State won the 15-team tournament at 871. Fresno State did not compete as a team.
Two Bulldogs, Gudrun Bjorgvinsdottir and Mimi Ho, have been absent while preparing for the 2016 World Amateur Team Championships that began Wednesday in Riviera Maya, Mexico. Both will return to the team Oct. 3-4 at the Johnnie Imes Invitational, Fresno State’s next event on the schedule.
This story was originally published September 21, 2016 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Fresno State cross country runner sets record after near two-year absence."