Samford Women Take First Place, Men Second, at Southeast Showdown
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Junior Bulldog Hillary Neal won her first meet of the season Saturday as she led the Samford women to a first-place finish in the collegiate division of the Southeast Showdown at Spain Park in Hoover, Ala. The meet was a makeup meet with Ole Miss after the original Ole Miss Invitational was cancelled due to inclement weather just three weeks ago.
"It was good to be back running and able to do that at home," Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said. "I thought the girls ran a great team race today and are still improving. The girls are still a little but short of where we would like to be, but the focus is on being ready for the conference championship. We were glad to get the win on the women's side, and we will keep working and get ready for the next one."
Although thunder and lightning stayed away this time, teams ran in a steady drizzle early Saturday morning. The Bulldog women competed against Ole Miss and UAB, taking the first place spot by a 21-point margin. Samford collected 19 points while Ole Miss finished second with 20 points and UAB took third with 80 points.
Hillary Neal finished first with a time of 10:19.89 followed by Ole Miss' Logan Waites in second place with a time of 10:39.45. Samford grabbed the next four spots at Andrea Seccafien, Cori Christensen, Jessica Van Ausdall and Lauren D'Alessio took third, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Ina Ables rounded out the Bulldogs in the top ten, grabbing ninth place while Holly Benson and Alli Keithan placed 13th and 14th, respectively. Jillian Klassen rounded out the Bulldog field, placing 17th while unattached runners Jilllian Klassen and Lauren Pilcher placed 19th and 23rd, respectively.
The Samford men went head-to-head with Ole Miss after the women's race was finished. The field was paced by Ole Miss All-American standout Barnabas Kirui who took first place by a little over thirty seconds with a course record time of 14:59.29. Unattached runner Cameron Bean took second with a time of 15:34.76 while senior Bulldog Blaise Carie placed fourth with a time of 16:24.32.
Samford rounded out the top ten with Scott Cope, Will Denton, Patrick Ollinger and Sam Shaughnessy taking seventh through tenth places, respectively. Chas Keithan and Jay Maservey grabbed 12th and 13th places, while Matt Bryson took 15th and Dan Hall placed 17th.
Full results can be found online later today at the Alabama Runners website.
Samford will run its final meet of the season next Saturday before the Southern Conference Championship in three weeks. The Bulldogs will run in the Troy Invitational next Saturday, Oct. 17, and then begin full preparation for the SoCon Championship that will take plan in Elon, N.C., on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Furman Women Finish First, Men Second, at Furman Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman women's cross country team won the 37th Furman Invitational Saturday morning in Greenville, S.C., while the Paladin men's team finished second. The women's team scored 35 points in the field of 16 teams. The men's team scored 81 points, placing behind winner Marshall, in the field of 15 teams.
Paladin sophomore Chloe Kowalski won the women's 5K event with a time of 18:20.71, while senior Brittany Johnson placed third with a time of 19:08.69. Junior Jenna Callahan finished the course in 19:29.45 for seventh place, and sophomore Charlotte Coggins was tenth after finishing in 19:43.94. Sophomore Tricia Rossettie rounded out the Furman scorers, placing 14th with a time of 19:55.58.
Junior Charlie McGoogan led the Paladin men's team, placing second with a time of 26:42.11 on the 8K course. Sophomore Lee Gilmer was sixth with a time of 27:08.03, and sophomore Jay Miller placed tenth, turning in a time of 27:34.81.
In conjunction with the Furman Invitational, the South Carolina Intercollegiate Meet was held on Saturday. For this meet, all times of runners from South Carolina schools were extracted from the times posted at the Furman Invitational to form a separate meet.
The Paladins won both the women's and men's meets of the South Carolina Intercollegiate Meet. The men scored 37 points, with McGoogan placing first in the meet. The women scored 21 points, with Kowalski also taking first place in the event.
Furman will run at the Winthrop Fall Classic in Rock Hill, S.C. on Oct. 17.
The Citadel Men Place Sixth, Women Eighth, at Furman Invitational
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Citadel cross country teams participated in the Furman Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 10 in Greenville, S.C. Freshman Kyle Keene led the Bulldog men to a sixth place finish with 123 points while Katheryn Gatewood guided the women to an eighth place with 203 points.
Keene finished the 8k course with a time of 27:38.68 and Brendan Kight followed in 17th place recording a time of 27:51.78. Chris Fallis came in next posting a time of 27:53.03 for 19th place while a minute later, Zach Yereb finished 41st with at time of 28:57.46. John Gatewood crossed the finished line 43rd recording a time of 29:03.70 and Atom Young finished out the top 50 for the Bulldogs with a time of 29:04.62 for 45th place.
For the women, Gatewood completed the 5k course at 38th with a time of 21:08.19 while Natalie Wolin finished 40th with at time of 21:14.12. Suzanne Gay wasn't far behind as she finished 47th posting a time of 21:32.29 and freshman Micah Wessinger rounded out the top 50 for The Citadel finishing 49th recording 21:51.77.
Coming up next, the Bulldogs will compete in the Winthrop Fall Classic in Rock Hill, S.C. on Saturday, Oct. 17. For more information on Bulldog Cross Country, visit the official website of The Citadel Athletics at www.CitadelSports.com.