Fuller wins C-USA award
Junior Kristy Fuller was named Conference USA Athlete of the Week Tuesday for her efforts in the Auburn Invitational meet Saturday.
Fuller finished seventh overall and first among USF runners with a time of 17 minutes, 4.47 seconds in the 5,000-meter race, bettering her personal best by almost one minute. The Bulls finished seventh as a team.
“We’re extremely excited for Kristy,” said USF head coach Greg Thiel. “The fact that she finished seventh out of 241 runners, especially with the competition that she faced, and set a personal record is certainly a tribute to her.”
Bulls move up in rankings
The USF men’s soccer team is ranked in the top 10 in three national polls for the first time this season.
After wins against Florida Atlantic and Louisville this past week, USF moved up one spot to No. 10 in the Collegesoccer.com media poll and No. 9 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll. The Bulls remained No. 8 in the Soccer America poll.
“It means that people are starting to take notice of USF soccer, and that’s good, and that’s a nice thing, to get respect,” said coach John Hackworth. “But at the 1st of October the ranking really is insignificant unless we continue to play the way we have so far.”The No. 8 ranking represents USF’s best ranking since the 1975 season.
USF is undefeated at 8-0, including a 2-0 record in C-USA. The Bulls defeated Louisville 1-0 in their last match Saturday.
“We haven’t won anything yet. And the ranking is nice, but until you win something, the rankings don’t mean a thing,” Hackworth said.
Cunningham on the move
Former USF forward Jeff Cunningham has been loaned to German club Bayer Leverkusen. Cunningham had played the last four seasons for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer.Cunningham, 25, departs for Leverkusen Oct. 9 and is slated to play his first match Oct. 14. Leverkusen is currently third in the Bundesliga, Germany’s top league, with a 5-0-3 record.
“I think it’s every football player’s dream to play at the highest level, and Leverkusen is one of the top club teams in the world,” Cunningham said. “It’s an honor for me to go there and represent that club.”
Cunningham played for USF from 1994-97, leading the Bulls in goals (11) in his freshman year and helping carry the team to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Championships as a senior. He ranks seventh in goals (41) and assists (25), and third in points (118) in USF’s all-time charts.
The Crew selected Cunningham with the ninth overall pick in the 1998 draft.