Sept. 24, 2006

The USC cross country team finished fourth at the Great American Cross Country Festival, finishing with 170 points. Host-school UAB won the women’s race. Good news for USC — lead runner Casey Gale ran well after battling a case of shin splints the last couple of weeks.

“We didn’t have our best race, but we ran well considering how many of the girls have been sick over the last two weeks,” said USC cross country coach Stan Rosenthal. “Our depth really helped us today. To have less than a minute between one and five is really good for our team.”

“We have never been able to race badly and do well, but I feel good about how we raced today. It wasn’t our best race, but we ran well,” said Rosenthal. “Casey Gale has recovered from a bout of shin splits and ran well after taking the last couple weeks off.”

Race-time it was 82 degrees and very humid. USC went out in the top 30-40 and held each of their places for the most part. The middle part was twisty and hilly so Rosenthal said the times were a bit slower than expected.

“A lot of the other runners had problems with the heat this morning, including Karen Wigal, but she is fine now,” said Rosenthal. “We got out and held our spots. Given how we raced and where we finished, I am happy. The girls feel good about the race as well.”

USC’s Top 7 Runners Place Name Time 27 Casey Gale 20:27.00 28 Rebecca Chain 20:33.00 32 Karen Wigal 20:46.90 37 Callie Rabun 21:05.00 46 Anna Petrov 21:24.00 49 Lisa McKinney 20:35.30 56 Laura Regensburg 21:47.40

USC will run again in the state of Alabama next weekend when it races at the Auburn Invitational.