2009 XC Championship Preview

Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

SEC Cross Country Championship Set for October 31

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

-- The 2009 SEC Cross Country season will conclude Saturday, October 31 with the SECChampionship in Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss is the host school as the races will be held at the Ole Miss Golf Course. This marksthe third time in school history that the Rebels have hosted the Championship. Ole Miss also hosted in 1985 and 1996.Admission is free and open to the public. The men’s 8K race is slated for a 10 a.m. (CT) start, while the women’s 6K will beginat 11 a.m. (CT). The awards ceremony is set for Noon (CT).12 women’s teams and 11 men’s teams will compete for the conference title. The Alabama Crimson Tide are the men’sdefending champions while the Arkansas Razorbacks are the defending women’s champions and have won the last three titles.On the men’s side, Alabama will attempt to become the first team other than Arkansas to repeat as back-to-back champi-ons since Tennessee in 1989-90. The No. 6 Crimson Tide enters the meet as the highest nationally ranked SEC team this sea-son. Also ranked for the SEC is No. 24 Auburn and No. 28 Arkansas. The Razorback’s Lane Boyer currently holds the fastest8K time in the league this season with a time of 23:23.05, followed by Alabama’s Tyson David with a time of 23:37.71.Another strong contender is the 2006 champion, Ole Miss’ Barnabas Kirui, who has the fifth fastest 8K time in the league thisseason.The Florida women and the Arkansas women are the only two teams entering the meet ranked in the USTFCCCA DivisionI National Poll. The Gators are No. 5, while the Razorbacks are No. 29. Arkansas leads the conference in titles with 13 fol-lowed by Tennessee with five, Kentucky and Florida with three and Alabama with two. The Gators were picked by the con-ference coaches to win the title in their preseason poll. Tennessee’s Jackie Areson currently boasts the conference’s best 6Ktime this season with a mark of 20:02.00. Auburn’s Holly Knight was the SEC’s top finisher at the Pre-NCAA meet earlier inthe season where she finished second with a time of 21:10.4. Knight was the 2008 runner-up at last year’s SECChampionships.Highlights from the Championship will be aired on ESPNU’s SEC Weekly on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 4:30 p.m. (ET). For moreinformation on the Championship, visit www.secsports.com or www.olemisssports.com

Team NotesAlabamaMen

After ending Arkansas’ streak of 34 straight conference titles (17 SWC, 17 SEC) last season, the Alabama men aim to launch a conferencetitle streak of their own. Should the Crimson Tide claim their second consecutive title on Saturday, they will be the first team other thanArkansas to repeat since 1989-90 (Tennessee). In 2008, the Alabama men claimed their second SEC Cross Country Championship in schoolhistory – the other title in 1973. The Crimson Tide posted an impressive score of 32 points by placing all five scoring runners in the top 10to best runner-up Auburn’s 62 points in dominant fashion. The Alabama men were the first team other than the Razorbacks to bring homethe elusive championship since Tennessee won in 1990. Alabama is predicted to repeat as conference champions in 2009, according to theSEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll.

Women

The Alabama women have been getting consistently better each year since 2006 posting their best SEC Championship finish since 2000 lastyear as they put together a team finish of seventh. This year’s squad returns everybody from last year’s seventh place team and has risen ashigh as third in the South Region Rankings this season. In addition, the rebuilding of Alabama into the SEC contender it once was is wellunderway by having three All-SEC and All-South Region performers in the past two years, all of which were freshmen. The Crimson Tidehas been led by yet another freshman in Katlyn Will once already this year.

ArkansasMen

Arkansas men’s cross country and head coach Chris Bucknam will be in the hunt for their 35th conference cross country title and 18th inSEC competition. The Razorbacks are led by juniors Dorian Ulrey and Lane Boyer and freshman Solomon Haile. In the current USTFCCCArankings, the Hogs are listed at No. 28 nationally and No. 1 in the South Central Region. This season, Arkansas has picked up two teamtitles (Arkansas Invitational and Missouri Southern Stampede), finished fourth at the Wisconsin Invitational and third at the Chile PepperFestival. Individually, Lane Boyer was named the SEC Runner of the Week on Sept. 22, Dorian Ulrey the SEC Runner of the Week on Oct.20 and Solomon Haile has twice been named the SEC Freshman Runner of the Week (Sept. 22 and Oct. 6). Boyer holds the league’s toptime in the 8,000 meters (23:23.05) and Ulrey holds the SEC’s top time in the 10,000 meters (29:37.50).

For Immediate ReleaseOctober 29, 2009

Ayanna Wakefield awakefield@sec.org o) 205-458-3000c) 205-215-8905

MEDIA RELATIONS STAFF

Charles Bloom, Associate CommissionerCraig Pinkerton, DirectorTammy Wilson, Associate DirectorChuck Dunlap, Associate DirectorAyanna Wakefield, Assistant Director

C O N F E R E N C E

SOUTHEASTERN

Media Relations • Richard Arrington Blvd. N • Birmingham, AL35203-1103Phone: (205) 458-3000 • Fax: (205) 458-3030 • www.secsports.com

Women

Arkansas women’s cross country and head coach Lance Harter will be in the hunt for their 14th SEC cross country title. The Razorbacks areled by junior Miranda Walker, sophomores Kristen Gillespie and Samantha Learch and freshman Alyssa Allison. In the current USTFCCCArankings, the Hogs are listed at No. 29 nationally and No. 2 in the South Central Region. This season, Arkansas has picked up two teamtitles (Arkansas Invitational and Missouri Southern Stampede), finished seventh at the Wisconsin Invitational and third at the Chile PepperFestival. Individually, Miranda Walker was named the SEC Runner of the Week on Sept. 8 and Alyssa Allison has twice been named theSEC Freshman Runner of the Week (Sept. 22 and Oct. 20).

AuburnMen

- Junior Ben Cheruiyot, placed 10th at the Pre-National meet after he clocked a time of season-best 8k time of 24:03.5. Cheruiyot has nowfinished first in every Auburn meet this season. He enters Saturday’s race knowing something about cross-country titles, as he captured theNJCAA National title for Rend Lake C.C. in 2007. The time is Cheruiyot’s best of the season, as he previously ran a 25:05.4 at the Wisconsinadidas Invite.- All-American Felix Kiboiywo, running in his second meet of the season at NCAA Pre-Nationals, placed 14th with a time of 24:08.4. Bothrunners finished No. 1 and No. 2 as SEC runners, as the closest finisher was Alabama’s Julius Bor who placed 15th. Kiboiywo placed fourthat last season’s meet with a time of 23:26.98, behind a pair of former teammates, Girma Mecheso who won the race (23:11.26) and ElkanahKibet (23:20.35) who placed third.- As a team last season, the Tigers finished second with 62 points, 30 points behind meet champion Alabama.- A pair of Auburn seniors will look to play a large role on Saturday in Jean-Pierre Weerts and Scott Novack. Novack will be competing inhis fourth and final championship meet. In 2006, he was Auburn’s top-finisher at the race with a 48th place finish, and placed 42nd as asophomore in 2007. Last season, he played a key part in Auburn’s runner-up finish, coming in as the Tigers fourth finisher with a 22nd-place finish.- Weerts has been a steadying force for the Tigers this season, as he has finished been the Tigers second and third finisher on two occasionseach. Last season, he placed 39th with a time of 25:22.22 at the league meet after missing the majority of the 2008 season due to injury.

Women

- For the fourth time in four races, Holly Knight was the top finisher for the Tigers at the NCAA Pre-National meet, coming in 21st place witha time of 21:10.4. Additionally, she was the top-SEC finisher in the race in what was her first 6k race of the season. Knight will look toimprove on her runner-up finish at the SEC Championship from a year ago as she finished 11 seconds behind meet champion CatherineWhite of Arkansas (20:18.52).- Stephanie Barnes finished second for the Tigers at Pre-Nationals for the third time on the year with a time of 21:32 to place 44th. She willlook to hold steady as Auburn’s No. 2 runner as she has been for much of the 2009 campaign.Senior Laurel Pritchard was Auburn’s othertop-20 finisher for the Tigers in last season’s SEC Championship, as she clocked a 21:34.39 to place 20th. She has improved in each SECChampionship in her career, as she placing 37th as a freshman and 35th as a sophomore.- Junior Allison Smith will run in her third championship meet, as she placed 81st as a freshman and 65th as a sophomore. Fellow juniorCathryn Albright will run in her second SEC Championship as she placed 84th with a time of 24:08.26.

FloridaMen

The Florida men's cross country team enters the SEC Championship race with two top-two finishes, including a team win their own MountainDew Invitational, and two top-20 finishes. They placed 15th out of 31 in the Pre-NCAA Invitational Blue Race, the most competitive raceof the regular season. In three of the four meets this season, the Gators have recorded a pack spread under 1:30, including 28.4 seconds atPre-Nationals and 47.7 at the Mountain Dew Invite. Junior Anthony Morales (Palm Coast, Fla.) has been the first UF finisher in every meethe has competed in this season, including recorded a 24:24 8K time for a second-place finish in the home meet, the 14th-best time in theSEC this season. Last year, he finished third for UF and 24th overall at the conference meet while senior Justin Taylor (St. Augustine, Fla.)placed 36th. The Gator men won back-to-back SEC titles in 1986 and 1987 while three different runners have earned the title, the last in1983. The Gators were picked to finish fourth in the coaches' preseason poll.

Women

The No. 5 Florida women enter the SEC Championship race placing in the top four in every race this season, including second at the Pre-NCAA Invitational and third at the Notre Dame Invitational. In the meets where the top runners competed, the Gators recorded a packspread of 48.1 seconds or under, including only 31 seconds at Pre-Nationals. Five Gator women hold top-10 6K times on the SEC's liststhis season, including senior Stacey Johnson (Lichfield, England), who placed eighth overall in the Pre-NCAA Invitational White Race in20:50.3 and earned SEC Female Athlete of the Week for her efforts. The UF women have won the SEC Championship three times (1984,1996, 1997) in the program's history and a Gator has taken first four times, the last in 1996. Last year, the women placed second to Arkansasby seven points and four Gators, including three returners, earned All-SEC honors. They were also picked to finish first this season by theconference coaches in a preseason poll.

GeorgiaMen

The Bulldogs arrive at the SEC Championships after taking 24th place at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 17. Georgiais ranked seventh in the latest USTFCCCA South Region poll. Senior captain Bejan Abtahi, who has led Georgia at all four of their meets,was the Bulldogs’ top finisher after crossing the finish line in 78th place (24:56). Abtahi did not compete for Georgia during the 2008 crosscountry season because of an internship, but he scored for the Bulldogs at the 2007 SEC Championships after taking 46th. Senior DustinTetley, who is a team captain with Abtahi, was Georgia’s second finisher at this year’s Pre-Nats with a 108th-place finish after registering atime of 25:18.7. Tetley was 53rd at last year’s SEC meet and scored for the Bulldogs. Georgia’s next two scorers at Pre-Nats will be new-comers to the conference meet. Freshman Bill Matthews was 113th in Terre Haute while sophomore transfer Brett Richardson was 130th.The Georgia men were eighth at the 2008 SEC Championships after Caleb Vogt topped his teammates for the first time last year after taking30th.

Women

The Georgia women are coming off a 19th-place finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 17. The Lady Bulldogs arefourth in the latest USTFCCCA South Region poll. Sophomore captain Kristie Krueger has led the Lady Bulldogs in all four of their meetsthis season and finished 31st (21:22) in Terre Haute to pace Georgia. Senior Bridget Lyons, who is also one of the team’s captains and scoredfor Georgia at the 2008 SEC meet, also broke into the top 40 after crossing the finish line in 21:28.9 for 39th place. Georgia coach Jeff Piggdescribed Krueger’s and Lyons’ performance at the NCAA Pre-Nats as one of the best races in both of their careers. The Lady Bulldogs finalthree scorers were junior Kylie Foley (139th – 22:31.8), freshman Ashley Shiver (140th – 22:32.3) and senior McKayla Plank (143rd –22:35.0). Foley was the second finisher for the Lady Bulldogs at the 2008 SEC Championships taking 27th. At the 2008 SEC meet, the LadyBulldogs finished fourth behind Natalie Picchetti’s 13th-place finish.

KentuckyMen

The UK men come into the 2009 SEC Championships after placing seventh a year ago. Junior Adam Henken, a 2008 NCAA ChampionshipIndividual competitor, has continued his consistency up front for the Cats. Since the 2007 SEC Championships in Lexington, Henken hasfinished no worse than third on the team with six top finishes. This season two newcomers, freshmen Luis Orta and Matt Sonnenfeldt, haveshared the spotlight with Henken in the top three. Each member of the trio has led the Cats across the finish line at one meet this season,while the other two follow immediately behind. Sonnenfeldt won SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season after posting the best timeat the Eastern Kentucky Invitational. Orta led the Wildcats at the Old Timers Classic two weeks later. Sophomore Matt Wagner has scoredin each meet for UK this year while classmates Josh Nadzam and Colin Heenan have rounded out the scoring for the Cats this season.After getting snowed out at the Penn State National Invitational two weeks ago, the Wildcats have not competed since October 3 at theGreater Louisville Classic. At the GLC, Henken led Kentucky with a 12th-place overall finish. As a team, the Wildcat men tallied 153 pointsand outperformed 11 other regionally-ranked teams to place second behind meet champion Louisville.

Women

The UK women hope to improve upon its sixth-place team finish at the 2008 SEC Championships. The 2009 Cats return just two scorersfrom last year’s squad that competed in the NCAA Championships – the first Kentucky team to run at the final meet in 19 seasons. Over thepast two seasons, junior Katherine Peterson has scored in every UK meet while senior Lindsay Petri has just one finish outside the top five.Through three meets this season four freshmen have consistently joined the veterans in the UK top six providing an average gap of 32 sec-onds for runners one through six. Two newcomers have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season. The latest honoree, fresh-man Cally Macumber, has led the Wildcats across the finish line in the past two meets. Fellow winner Chelsea Oswald has finished amongthe top three for the Cats in each meet this season, and led UK at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational. First-year runner Samantha Norman hasalso scored in each meet this season while classmate Amanda Whowell has scored in one meet alongside two sixth-place finishes on theteam in 2009. After getting snowed out at the Penn State National Invitational two weeks ago, the Wildcats have not competed since October3 at the Greater Louisville Classic. At the GLC, UK accumulated 130 points to beat out eight other regionally-ranked squads to place secondbehind meet champion Purdue.

LSUMen

After coming off a disappointing finish at the Chile Pepper Invitational on October 17, the LSU men’s cross country team looks to have itsbest meet of the year at the SEC Championships in Oxford, Miss. The team will once again be led by sophomore Cullen Doody, who haspaced the Tigers in all three meets this season. His best 8K time came at the Crimson Classic in September, where he clocked a 26:52.30.His highest finish was a 16th place effort at the LSU Invitational on September 26. The team also seeks strong finishes from experienced juniors Kyle Hecker, Sean Swanner and Tim Landry. Hecker cut his 8K time by nearly two minutes between the Crimson Classic and theLSU Invitational. Kyle Steele has paced the LSU freshman in the 8K race, as he clocked a 27:50.50 at the LSU Invitational. Freshmen RogerCooke and Paras Shah have also contributed for the Tigers this season.

Women

After missing the last two meets with illness, senior Katie Hamel will rejoin the Lady Tigers to compete in the SEC Championships. Hamel,a transfer from Tulane, paced the Lady Tigers in her only meet of the season, clocking an 18:43.50 at the Crimson Classic. LSU will alsoexpect strong finishes from sophomore Jenna Henssler and freshman Charlene Lipsey, who have led the Lady Tigers in Hamel’s absence. Atthe Crimson Classic, LSU Invitational and Chile Pepper Festival, Henssler and Lipsey finished within three seconds of one another.Sophomores Laura Carleton and Amber Abbott, along with junior Lauren Ybarzabal, have also competed well for the Lady Tigers this sea-son and look to have their best race of the year in Oxford.

Ole Miss

The Ole Miss cross country team returns to action Saturday morning when the Rebels host the 2009 SEC Cross Country Championships fromthe Ole Miss Golf Course. The Rebels are led on the men's side by junior Barnabas Kirui, who captured the individual title for Ole Miss in2006. After missing most of the last two years, Kirui has put together another outstanding season and is one of the leading candidates towin the event this year. He has already won two individual titles this season and recently finished in ninth place at the NCAA Pre-Nationalsmeet. On the women's side, sophomore Logan Waites is expected to be the top finisher for the Rebels. Waites has placed first for Ole Missin every meet in which she has competed. In fact, she has finished first for Ole Miss in every meet she ran since arriving in Oxford last sea-son.

Mississippi State

Mississippi State heads into the 2009 SEC Championships after a season of top finishes. Both the men’s and women’s teams opened the sea-son winning the Sewanee Invitational for the fourth year in a row. The Bulldogs scored a team total of 24 points in the 8K race, while theLady Bulldogs scored 25 points in the 5K. Sophomore Renee Masterson ran 17 minutes, 57.66 seconds to win the individual women's title. Junior Simone Domingue and freshman Chloe Phillips ran 18:45.97 and 18:52.23 to finish third and fourth, respectively. The Lady Bulldogsended the day placing five runners in the Top 10. State's Adam Lenz ran 25:43.03 to finish second in the 8K. Like the women, the menplaced seven runners in the Top 10. Freshman Nick Perkins ran 26:03.31 to open his collegiate career. State went on to win their secondraces of the season at the MSU Invitational, which was run on a 1,000-meter horse track because of a rain soaked course, with the men’steam having a perfect 15 points scored, and the women scoring 25 points. All five of MSU scored runners finished as the Top 5 runners tocomplete their perfect race. Senior Daniel Simpkins was the first Bulldog to cross the line running 25:21.92 seconds. Domingue led the LadyBulldogs to a home meet victory, running 18:27.64 to claim medalist honors. Phillips continued to strive as in her inaugural season ran18:43.90 to finish second individually. Rounding out the Top 5, freshman Adrianna Poole ran 19:16.98 to finish fifth. For their third test of

of 00

Leave a Comment