Women's Cross Country Takes 12th at Chile Pepper
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM
Oct. 18, 2008
Fayetteville, Ark. - The Alabama women's cross country team competed at the 20th Annual Chile Pepper Festival today at the University of Arkansas Cross Country Course. The Crimson Tide finished 12th overall and were led once again by standout freshman Sara Vaughn.
Vaughn has consistently been the front runner for the Tide this season. She posted a time of 21:04.12 in her first 6k of her career crossing the line in 18th place. Vaughn was closely followed by fellow freshman Kelsey Johnson who finished with a time of 21:21.13 (21st). Both times rank as the third and fourth fastest 6k times in school history.
"I felt like we competed well today in a very tough field on a tough course," cross country coach Randy Hasenbank said. "Sara and Kelsey were fantastic for us once again today and turned in two of the fastest times in Alabama history."
The top five finishers for the Crimson Tide continue to be freshmen. Twins Sarah (22:53.08) and Leigh Gilmore (23:08.57) finished 110th and 123rd, respectively. Andrea Torske rounded out the top five for the team coming through in 131st with a time of 23:14.58.
Other finishers for the Tide were Haley Moody (23:32.86) and Rue Chitwood (24:04.72) who finished 153rd and 184th, respectively. Megan Williams finished with a time of 24:06.20 in 185th place. There were 306 athletes in today's race.
In team scoring, No. 29 Texas Tech took home the title tallying 72 points. No. 10 Arkansas (101) finished second and No. 23 Southern Methodist (139) finished third. Virginia Tech (183) and Boston College (185) rounded out the top five teams, respectively. Alabama finished 12th with 390 points bettering last year's finish of 21st place.
Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego grabbed the individual title covering the 6,000 meter course in 19:26.91 while leading her team to the team title.
The Crimson Tide will take a week off before beginning the championship portion of the season. The squad will compete at the SEC Championships on Nov. 3 in Starkville, Miss. in hopes of finishing in the top six.
