Aug. 30, 2014

Results | Photo Gallery

COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina women’s cross country team had a strong showing to start the year, earning the top nine spots to win the Carolina Invitational this morning at Hilton Field on Fort Jackson. Junior Stephanie Berger paced the pack of Gamecocks with a time of 19.00.65.

The native of West Salem, Ohio, took control of the race early on and never looked back, building a commanding lead down the stretch. Finishing behind her at 19:14.26 was one of the team’s 13 newcomers this season in Allie Sprague of Marengo, Ill. Junior Christine Kent rounded out the top three with a time of 19:17.77. The Gamecocks final two scorers were sophomore Melanie Ng in fourth (19:27.29) and Sarah Falta in fifth (19:33.42.)

Outside of taking the top nine spots, the field of 54 saw 13 Gamecocks finish in the top 15. By earning the top five spots, South Carolina accumulated 15 points to win the meet. Georgia Southern finished second with 73 points, while the Citadel was third with 96 points.

Meet Changer:

Junior Stephanie Berger set the bar for the Gamecocks as she clocked a time of 19:00.65 to earn the first win of her career.

Key Stat:

South Carolina placed 13 of its 14 runners in the top 15 in a field of 54 competitors.

Notables:

• Junior Stephanie Berger won her first career race as a Gamecock.

• Eight of the Gamecocks competing were freshmen, including six true freshmen.

• All eight freshmen finished in the top 15.

• Allie Sprague finished second in her collegiate debut.

• South Carolina has won three of its last four season opening meets.

Tweet of the Meet:

. @GamecockXC the Carolina Invitational was my first time attending a meet and I had a blast. All of the runners did well. #gogamecocks

— Wayne Shuler (@WayneShuler) August 30, 2014

Quotable:

South Carolina Assistant Track & Field Coach for Distance/Cross Country Andrew Allden

On the meet

“I thought it was an excellent opener for us. Obviously, it’s hard to be unhappy when you go one through nine in any meet situation. I thought the times were appropriate for the conditions. When its 80 degrees and you’re in your first race, you’re only going to run so fast. We’ll be running a lot faster in two weeks and a lot faster in six and eight weeks. I’m very pleased with how the freshmen stuck their nose in there, particularly Allie Sprague showed herself to be a racer. Stephanie Berger got an opportunity to get a win, which I thought was very nice. All in all, an excellent start to the season.”

South Carolina Junior Stephanie Berger

On the team’s performance

“I think we all had expectations going into this meet and it’s the first meet of the season so it set the tone for what we do for the rest of the season, but it by no means defines what we are going to do. We were just hoping to get a benchmark and take the rest of the season from there. Up Next: South Carolina will take two weeks away from competition as the team prepares for the USC Open #1 on Sept. 13. The meet will begin at 9 a.m., at Hilton Field on Fort Jackson.”

Up Next:
South Carolina will take the next two weeks off from competition as the team prepares for the USC Open #1 on Sept. 13. The meet will begin at 9 a.m., at Hilton Field on Fort Jackson.