2009 Xc Championship Preview

SOUTHEASTERN C O N F E R E N C E

For Immediate Release

MEDIA RELATIONS STAFF Charles Bloom, Associate Commissioner Craig Pinkerton, Director Tammy Wilson, Associate Director Chuck Dunlap, Associate Director Ayanna Wakefield, Assistant Director

October 29, 2009

Ayanna Wakefield [email protected] o) 205-458-3000 c) 205-215-8905

SEC Cross Country Championship Set for October 31 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The 2009 SEC Cross Country season will conclude Saturday, October 31 with the SEC Championship in Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss is the host school as the races will be held at the Ole Miss Golf Course. This marks the 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 begin at 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’s defending 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 champions since Tennessee in 1989-90. The No. 6 Crimson Tide enters the meet as the highest nationally ranked SEC team this season. Also ranked for the SEC is No. 24 Auburn and No. 28 Arkansas. The Razorback’s Lane Boyer currently holds the fastest 8K 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 this season. The Florida women and the Arkansas women are the only two teams entering the meet ranked in the USTFCCCA Division I National Poll. The Gators are No. 5, while the Razorbacks are No. 29. Arkansas leads the conference in titles with 13 followed by Tennessee with five, Kentucky and Florida with three and Alabama with two. The Gators were picked by the conference coaches to win the title in their preseason poll. Tennessee’s Jackie Areson currently boasts the conference’s best 6K time 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 in the season where she finished second with a time of 21:10.4. Knight was the 2008 runner-up at last year’s SEC Championships. Highlights from the Championship will be aired on ESPNU’s SEC Weekly on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 4:30 p.m. (ET). For more information on the Championship, visit www.secsports.com or www.olemisssports.com Team Notes Alabama Men After ending Arkansas’ streak of 34 straight conference titles (17 SWC, 17 SEC) last season, the Alabama men aim to launch a conference title streak of their own. Should the Crimson Tide claim their second consecutive title on Saturday, they will be the first team other than Arkansas to repeat since 1989-90 (Tennessee). In 2008, the Alabama men claimed their second SEC Cross Country Championship in school history – the other title in 1973. The Crimson Tide posted an impressive score of 32 points by placing all five scoring runners in the top 10 to best runner-up Auburn’s 62 points in dominant fashion. The Alabama men were the first team other than the Razorbacks to bring home the elusive championship since Tennessee won in 1990. Alabama is predicted to repeat as conference champions in 2009, according to the SEC Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Women The Alabama women have been getting consistently better each year since 2006 posting their best SEC Championship finish since 2000 last year 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 as high as third in the South Region Rankings this season. In addition, the rebuilding of Alabama into the SEC contender it once was is well underway by having three All-SEC and All-South Region performers in the past two years, all of which were freshmen. The Crimson Tide has been led by yet another freshman in Katlyn Will once already this year. Arkansas Men Arkansas men’s cross country and head coach Chris Bucknam will be in the hunt for their 35th conference cross country title and 18th in SEC competition. The Razorbacks are led by juniors Dorian Ulrey and Lane Boyer and freshman Solomon Haile. In the current USTFCCCA rankings, the Hogs are listed at No. 28 nationally and No. 1 in the South Central Region. This season, Arkansas has picked up two team titles (Arkansas Invitational and Missouri Southern Stampede), finished fourth at the Wisconsin Invitational and third at the Chile Pepper Festival. 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 top time in the 8,000 meters (23:23.05) and Ulrey holds the SEC’s top time in the 10,000 meters (29:37.50).

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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 are led by junior Miranda Walker, sophomores Kristen Gillespie and Samantha Learch and freshman Alyssa Allison. In the current USTFCCCA rankings, the Hogs are listed at No. 29 nationally and No. 2 in the South Central Region. This season, Arkansas has picked up two team titles (Arkansas Invitational and Missouri Southern Stampede), finished seventh at the Wisconsin Invitational and third at the Chile Pepper Festival. Individually, Miranda Walker was named the SEC Runner of the Week on Sept. 8 and Alyssa Allison has twice been named the SEC Freshman Runner of the Week (Sept. 22 and Oct. 20). Auburn Men - 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 now finished first in every Auburn meet this season. He enters Saturday’s race knowing something about cross-country titles, as he captured the NJCAA 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 Wisconsin adidas 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. Both runners finished No. 1 and No. 2 as SEC runners, as the closest finisher was Alabama’s Julius Bor who placed 15th. Kiboiywo placed fourth at 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 Elkanah Kibet (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 in his 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 a sophomore in 2007. Last season, he played a key part in Auburn’s runner-up finish, coming in as the Tigers fourth finisher with a 22ndplace 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 occasions each. 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 with a 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 to improve on her runner-up finish at the SEC Championship from a year ago as she finished 11 seconds behind meet champion Catherine White 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 will look 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 other top-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 SEC Championship 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 junior Cathryn Albright will run in her second SEC Championship as she placed 84th with a time of 24:08.26. Florida Men The Florida men's cross country team enters the SEC Championship race with two top-two finishes, including a team win their own Mountain Dew Invitational, and two top-20 finishes. They placed 15th out of 31 in the Pre-NCAA Invitational Blue Race, the most competitive race of 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 at Pre-Nationals and 47.7 at the Mountain Dew Invite. Junior Anthony Morales (Palm Coast, Fla.) has been the first UF finisher in every meet he 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 the SEC 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 in 1983. 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 PreNCAA Invitational and third at the Notre Dame Invitational. In the meets where the top runners competed, the Gators recorded a pack spread 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 lists this season, including senior Stacey Johnson (Lichfield, England), who placed eighth overall in the Pre-NCAA Invitational White Race in 20:50.3 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 Arkansas by seven points and four Gators, including three returners, earned All-SEC honors. They were also picked to finish first this season by the conference coaches in a preseason poll. Georgia Men The Bulldogs arrive at the SEC Championships after taking 24th place at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 17. Georgia is 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 cross country season because of an internship, but he scored for the Bulldogs at the 2007 SEC Championships after taking 46th. Senior Dustin Tetley, 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 a time 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 newcomers 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 taking 30th.

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 are fourth in the latest USTFCCCA South Region poll. Sophomore captain Kristie Krueger has led the Lady Bulldogs in all four of their meets this 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 scored for 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 Pigg described Krueger’s and Lyons’ performance at the NCAA Pre-Nats as one of the best races in both of their careers. The Lady Bulldogs final three 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 Lady Bulldogs finished fourth behind Natalie Picchetti’s 13th-place finish. Kentucky Men The UK men come into the 2009 SEC Championships after placing seventh a year ago. Junior Adam Henken, a 2008 NCAA Championship Individual competitor, has continued his consistency up front for the Cats. Since the 2007 SEC Championships in Lexington, Henken has finished no worse than third on the team with six top finishes. This season two newcomers, freshmen Luis Orta and Matt Sonnenfeldt, have shared 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 time at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational. Orta led the Wildcats at the Old Timers Classic two weeks later. Sophomore Matt Wagner has scored in 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 the Greater Louisville Classic. At the GLC, Henken led Kentucky with a 12th-place overall finish. As a team, the Wildcat men tallied 153 points and 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 scorers from last year’s squad that competed in the NCAA Championships – the first Kentucky team to run at the final meet in 19 seasons. Over the past 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 seconds for runners one through six. Two newcomers have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season. The latest honoree, freshman Cally Macumber, has led the Wildcats across the finish line in the past two meets. Fellow winner Chelsea Oswald has finished among the top three for the Cats in each meet this season, and led UK at the Eastern Kentucky Invitational. First-year runner Samantha Norman has also scored in each meet this season while classmate Amanda Whowell has scored in one meet alongside two sixth-place finishes on the team in 2009. After getting snowed out at the Penn State National Invitational two weeks ago, the Wildcats have not competed since October 3 at the Greater Louisville Classic. At the GLC, UK accumulated 130 points to beat out eight other regionally-ranked squads to place second behind meet champion Purdue. LSU Men After coming off a disappointing finish at the Chile Pepper Invitational on October 17, the LSU men’s cross country team looks to have its best meet of the year at the SEC Championships in Oxford, Miss. The team will once again be led by sophomore Cullen Doody, who has paced 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 the LSU Invitational. Kyle Steele has paced the LSU freshman in the 8K race, as he clocked a 27:50.50 at the LSU Invitational. Freshmen Roger Cooke 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 also expect strong finishes from sophomore Jenna Henssler and freshman Charlene Lipsey, who have led the Lady Tigers in Hamel’s absence. At the 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 season 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 from the 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 in 2006. After missing most of the last two years, Kirui has put together another outstanding season and is one of the leading candidates to win the event this year. He has already won two individual titles this season and recently finished in ninth place at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet. On the women's side, sophomore Logan Waites is expected to be the top finisher for the Rebels. Waites has placed first for Ole Miss in 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 season. 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 season 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 the Lady 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 Bulldogs ended 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 men placed seven runners in the Top 10. Freshman Nick Perkins ran 26:03.31 to open his collegiate career. State went on to win their second races 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’s team having a perfect 15 points scored, and the women scoring 25 points. All five of MSU scored runners finished as the Top 5 runners to complete their perfect race. Senior Daniel Simpkins was the first Bulldog to cross the line running 25:21.92 seconds. Domingue led the Lady Bulldogs to a home meet victory, running 18:27.64 to claim medalist honors. Phillips continued to strive as in her inaugural season ran 18:43.90 to finish second individually. Rounding out the Top 5, freshman Adrianna Poole ran 19:16.98 to finish fifth. For their third test of

the season State traveled Louisville, Ky., to compete at the Greater Louisville Classic. Both MSU teams garnered top 15 finishes with the Lady Bulldogs finishing in 12th place and the Bulldogs in 14th. Lady Bulldog freshman Chloe Phillips of Flagstaff, Ariz., finished as MSU's top runner in 18:23.20 seconds for the first time in her career. Right behind Phillips was Domingue and sophomore Dominique Lockhart, who completed the race in 18:23.72 and 18:50.32 respectively. For the men, Lenz came at 25:03.02 as State's top finisher. Matthew Cameron and Daniel Simpkins rounded out MSU's Top 3 finishers, finishing the 8K in 25:20.49 and 25:21.70, respectively. In their final test before the SEC Championships, Mississippi State's cross country teams competed at the 2009 Chile Pepper Cross Country Festival hosted by Arkansas with men finishing 11th out of 29 teams and Lady Bulldogs placing 15th out 34 teams. Both teams finished ahead of SEC foe LSU. This was the first 10K race for the Bulldogs this season Lenz remained the team leader finishing in 31:25.83 seconds. Simpkins and Cameron Vincent were close behind finishing at 31:45.25 and 31:52.83, respectively. The Lady Bulldogs lost some key runners due to illness, and Domingue continued to emerge as the team leader finishing the 6K race in 22:27.81. Phillips and sophomore Loren Bruce stepped up to finish as MSU's No. 2 and 3 runners in 22:32.94 and 23:26.88, respectively. State’s men’s team enters this weekend with a No. 9 NCAA South Regional ranking, and the Lady Bulldogs in hopes of climbing back into the NCAA South Regional ranks. South Carolina South Carolina cross country heads to the 2009 SEC Championships this weekend in Oxford, Miss. The Gamecocks currently hold a 30-4 against Division I opponents this season and have finished in the top four of every race this year – including wins at the Gamecock Invitational and the Winthrop Invitational. The team will be led by senior Dani Barnes and sophomore Beatrice Biwott in search of an improvement from last year’s 10th place finish. Tennessee Men For the first time since 1996, the Tennessee men will run in Oxford, Miss….The Vols will take part on Saturday in the SEC Championships, striving to continue a streak of five straight top-half finishes and break through with their first top three outcome since 2001…The Vols have three runners ranking among the league’s top 20 performers this season…That trio includes juniors Michael Spooner (24:09.58) and Peter Sigilai (24:22.15) in 11th and 12th positions, respectively, and freshman Leoule Degfae (24:38.61) in 19th place…Tennessee returns one SEC performer from a year ago in Spooner, who finished 13th in 24:05.05, and a Freshman All-SEC Team member in Chris Bodary, who logged in 43rd in 25:29.61…The Big Orange men have an average one-through-five finishing time spread of around 57 seconds this season…UT had a low spread of 28.90 seconds at the Crimson Classic and a high of 1:03.57 at the Greater Louisville Classic. Women The Tennessee women will pay their first visit to Oxford, Miss., since 1996 this weekend, as they compete in the SEC Championships on Saturday morning at the Ole Miss Golf Course…The Lady Vols will be aiming for their ninth consecutive top three finish in the team standings and are coming off a third-place effort a year ago in Starkville, Miss….The Big Orange women enter with the three fastest 6,000-meter clockings of the season by SEC women, as Jackie Areson (20:02.00), Brittany Sheffey (20:39.00) and Katie Van Horn (20:50.00) all posted their season bests at the Brooks Paul Short Run on Oct. 2…Tennessee’s No. 4 and No. 5 runners, Chanelle Price (21:37.12) and Phoebe Wright (21:44.29), rank 15th and 17th, respectively, in the league this season…Sheffey was All-SEC last season with a 12th-place finish, while Van Horn made the all-league team in 2006 (8th) and 2007 (11th)…Though a two-time all-region selection, Areson hasn’t earned All-SEC kudos as of yet, finishing 15th in 2006 and 29th a year ago. Vanderbilt Men The Vanderbilt men’s cross country team travels to Oxford, Miss., this weekend for the Southeastern Conference Championships. The Commodores will be looking to improve on last year’s 11th place finish where they scored 292 points. In four tournaments this fall, the young VU squad has been paced by sophomore Jenner Kizer. The VU coaching staff is pleased with how the freshmen have competed this year and how they have made a nice transition to the college level. Vanderbilt is still looking to run more as a cohesive group and looks forward to running at the conference meet. The Commodores top performance of the season came at the Commodore Classic when they ran to a third place finish in the 8,000-meter race at Percy Warner Park on Sept. 19. The 2009 SEC meet will serve as the final conference meet for seniors Thomas Davis and James Kasten. Davis clocked a personal best while leading the Commodores with a top-45 finish at last year’s SECs. Vanderbilt is coming off a solid performance in the men’s 8K Open race at the Indiana State Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Ind., on Oct. 17. Kizer, a Fort Worth, Texas native, clocked a 26:34.6 to lead the ‘Dores, placing 47th out of 111 competitors. The freshman tandem of Billy Malmed and Chris Baker were the second and third Commodores to cross the tape as they notched times of 27:16.2 and 27:18.4. Davis and sophomore Kyle Rewick notched times of 27:44.1 and 27:55.4 while Joseph Newman clocked 28:06. Women The Vanderbilt women’s cross country team travels to Oxford, Miss., this weekend for the Southeastern Conference Championships. The Commodores will be looking to improve on last year’s eighth place finish where they scored 177 points. Vanderbilt has placed eighth at the conference meet the last two year’s despite scoring 40 points better in 2008 than they did in 2007. The Commodore runners have displayed more depth and consistency than previous years and have run well as a pack this year. Vanderbilt’s Kristabel Doebel-Hickok has led Vanderbilt at the top with three top-20 finishes while, Rita Jorgensen, Louise Hannallah, Jordan White, and Allie Scalf have been among VU’s top-five runners for most of the year. Erin McManus, Adrienne DiRaddo, Kristen Findley and Ellen Black have been consistent performers throughout the fall and have competed at a high level. The Commodores are coming off 25th place finish at the Indiana State PreNationals on Oct. 17 in Terre Haute, Ind. Vanderbilt welcomed back junior standout Rita Jorgensen to the lineup at the Pre-National meet, who was competing in her first meet since the Belmont-VU Opener (Sept. 4). Jorgensen paced the ‘Dores in the 6K at Pre-Nationals with a time of 22:00.1, good for 91st place. Sophomore Kristabel Doebel-Hickok finished six seconds back of Jorgensen with a time of 22:06.6, while Jordan White was the third Vanderbilt runner to finish, clocking a 22:20.1. Fellow sophomore Louise Hannallah finished 10 seconds back of White after clocking a 22:30.8. Alexa Rogers and Allie Scalf were the fifth and sixth Commodores to finish as they crossed the finish line at the 22:42.1 and 22:48.9, respectively. Freshman Kristen Findley closed out the Vanderbilt runners with a 22:52.5. The Commodores will be looking to finish in the top-six of the conference for the first time since 2001 when they finished in fifth place with 123 points.