Women's Cross Country Week That Was: Week 11
11/4/2008 12:00:00 AM
Nov. 4, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Alabama head women's cross country coach Randy Hasenbank led the Crimson Tide through their 11th week of practice and the SEC Championships. The squad finished seventh at the meet, accumulating their highest finish since 2000.
Though the team improved from last year's finish, their goal was an upper division finish, or top six. Coach Hasenbank is quick to congratulate his team but reminds them they can still be better.
"We were running for an upper division finish and we came close with the seventh place finish," Hasenbank said. "While seventh is a move in the right direction, seventh is not a finish that we want to get excited about."
The team is, of course, tired today and will take a few days of easy recovery runs before getting back into workouts.
The Crimson Tide will refocus and get ready for the Regional meet in hopes of qualifying a few girls for the national meet in Terre Haute, Ind. in a few weeks. The goal is to back up their regional ranking (currently ranked No. 7) and possibly even finish higher. Overall, the coaches are pleased with the progression of this young team.
"We have proven that we can run well in the 1-2 (Sara and Kelsey) spots," Hasenbank said. "Haley really stepped up yesterday and she will get a couple more weeks of training which will improve our three spot. Andrea, Sarah and Leigh will enter the meet with some big meet experience and another 6k under their belts which should help us."
The Tide will take a week off before making the trip to Knoxville, Tenn. for the NCAA South Regional Championships hosted by The University of Tennessee.
