Women's Cross Country Takes Third at Crimson Classic
9/17/2005 12:00:00 AM
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The Alabama women's cross country team took third at the 17th Crimson Classic held on the Harry Pritchett Cross Country Course Saturday morning.
Led by junior Julia Hicks' second place finish, the Crimson Tide scored 77 points, finishing just behind Samford and Lamar and well ahead of Southeastern Conference rival Mississippi State.
"I was happy with how we competed against Mississippi State," cross country coach Steve Keith said. "Two weeks ago, they finished about 20 points ahead of us in Nashville. Today we came out, put together a good race and managed a 35 point swing."
Hicks turned in a 17:33.48 over the 5-kilometer course while redshirt sophomore Tara Enebak was next for the Tide, taking 14th place with an 18:35.34.
"Julia's 17:33 ranked in the top-20 all time on this course and we've hosted numerous SEC and NCAA Regional Championships here, so that's quite an accomplishment," Keith said.
The trio of juniors Megan Carnes and Elizabeth Wancowicz and freshman Katie Davis rounded out the scoring for the Tide in a tight pack, taking 19th, 20th and 22nd respectively. Carnes ran an 18:48.85, Wancowicz an 18:49.80 and Davis an 18:55.85. Davis shaved more than 30 seconds off her previous career best.
"We had some good individual races and a great team race here today," Keith said. "Two years ago at this race our top two finishers, Tara and Julia, posted times of about 18:30 and this year we averaged 18:30, so we've really come a long way as a team. To have all five of our scorers under 19 minutes today was a big positive. Overall I'm very pleased with our performance."
There were also high school and junior high school races as part of the Crimson Classics, the results of which can be found at www.cfpitiming.com. Alabama returns to action Oct. 8 at the Auburn Invitational.
