Women's Cross Country to Compete at SEC Championships
10/30/2008 12:00:00 AM
Oct. 30, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's cross country team will travel to Starkville, Miss. on Nov. 3 to compete at the SEC Championships hosted by Mississippi State University. Alabama has won the conference championship twice winning back-to-back titles in 1986-87 when they won the meet with 30 and 20 point, respectively, edging out Kentucky both years.
This year, the Crimson Tide is ranked No. 8 in the SEC, as voted on by the coaches, but is looking to finish in the top six for the first time since 2000 when they finished in fifth.
The women's 6,000 meter race is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.
Team Leaders
The Tide returns All-SEC and All-South Region finisher Haley Moody for the 2008 season. Seven of the eight traveling members of the team are underclassmen. However, freshmen Sara Vaughn and Kelsey Johnson have been raking in awards from the SEC all season long with Vaughn garnering both SEC Athlete of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week twice. Johnson has also been named SEC Freshman of the Week once. Vaughn currently holds the seventh fastest 6,000 meter time in the SEC with a time of 21:04.12. The squad's top five have been freshmen at every meet this year.
Ranked Teams
Alabama will toe the line against two of the top ranked teams in the country on Monday. The Tide will compete against No. 13 Arkansas, the defending SEC Champions and winner of seven of the last ten championships, and No. 14 Florida.
Looking Ahead
The women's cross country team will take a week off before making the trip to Knoxville, Tenn. for the NCAA South Regional Championships hosted by The University of Tennessee. In 2007, the Crimson Tide unfortunately did not finish enough runners to score in the meet. This year, however, the squad is ranked No. 8 in the region. Alabama has not finished in the top ten at the NCAA South Regional since 2000 when they placed 10th.
2007 SEC Championship
Alabama finished 10th at the 2007 championships behind SEC Champion Arkansas. Haley Moody garnered All-SEC as a freshman covering the 6,000 meter course in 21:22.09. Moody was the first athlete from Alabama to finish high enough to get the award since 2005.
2008 SEC Cross Country Coaches' Poll
(First-Place Votes in Parentheses)
SEC Champion Women: Arkansas (9), Florida (2), Tennessee (1)
WOMEN
1. Arkansas (9) 13
2. Florida (2) 25
3. Tennessee (1) 31
4. Georgia 39
5. Kentucky 61
6. Auburn 68
6. Vanderbilt 68
8. Alabama 80
9. Mississippi State 83
10. LSU 103
11. South Carolina 104
12. Ole Miss 117
2008 Honors and Awards
Sara Vaughn has been named both SEC Athlete of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week twice this season. She garnered both awards in the same week when she posted a time of 17:17.95 over the 5,000 meter course while winning the 20th Annual Crimson Classic and leading the Crimson Tide to the team title. Fellow freshman Kelsey Johnson was also named SEC Freshman of the week for her performance at the Sean Earl Lakefront Invitational when she finished third covering the 5,000 meter course in 17:49.
Quotes from cross country coach Randy Hasenbank:
On the SEC Championships:
"Our goal as a team, obviously, is the same goal we had to start the season. We want an upper division finish because I think that's the next step to getting consistent as far as competing in the upper division."
On Sara Vaughn and Kelsey Johnson:
"We've got a couple of gals up front that can run with just about anyone in the conference. I expect them to run really well and if those two go out front and do what they've been doing, that will help us toward a great team finish."
On the team's mindset:
"They've done such a good job taking care of business. I haven't really had to deal with getting them ready and psyched up. They've done such a good job, for a young group, they've done an amazing job of taking care of business. They come to practice, take care of business, they travel, take care of business, they go to the meets, take care of business. Of course, we want them to continue to improve and the only way for that to happen is over time. What they've done so far, I've been really pleased, they get themselves up, they compete very well."
On the group's attitude this season:
"I think the big plus of this group is consistency across the board with attitude, a positive atmosphere at practices and goal setting. They understand that we have some goals and standards that we want to live by and meet and those things are what we keep working on day to day and I haven't had to talk much about it. It's what they want, they are driven as individuals."
