Sept. 24, 2009
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The South Carolina cross country team heads to Oxford, Miss., Saturday to compete at the Mississippi Invitational. The meet is scheduled for 9 a.m. and gives the Gamecocks a chance to compete on the course that will be home to the 2009 SEC Championships next month.
The field will be smaller this week than the post two meets with only five women’s teams competing. South Carolina, currently ranked 14th in the Southeast Region preseason rankings, will lineup with host team Ole Miss, Samford, Christian Brothers University and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Samford was named the Southern Conference preseason favorite and is ranked No. 9 in the South region. Fellow SEC opponent Alabama was originally scheduled to compete but is no longer scheduled to run at the meet.
“It’s going to be a wet and slow course because it’s rained there so much the past week,” South Carolina head coach Stan Rosenthal said. “Beatrice Biwott and Dani Barnes should be two of the faster runners in the field. Ideally we should put our top five into the top 15. We’ll have some good competition though. Samford is the top team in the Southern Conference. I was hoping to see Alabama there to help gauge and test ourselves against another conference opponent. But our main reason for going is to get whatever advantage we can get by running a difficult course that will be the site of our conference championship.”
SOUTH CAROLINA RANKED IN THE REGION
The South Carolina cross country team debuts at No. 14 in the USTFCCCA Southeast Region preseason poll. The ranking marks the first time that South Carolina has been ranked in the preseason poll and matches the top appearances from the 2008 season when the Gamecocks were ranked 14th in the second week of the season.
PROJECTED TOP FIVE GAMECOCK RUNNERS
Dani Barnes – Senior – Won the Winthrop Invitational to continue her strong senior season
Beatrice Biwott – Sophomore – Placed second at Winthrop Invitational to improve from season opening meet
Ashley Evens – Junior – Team co-captain finished third on the team in both meets so far
Laura Pramstaller – Junior – Missed the 2008 cross country season but has opened strong
Tatum Tyler – Freshman – Freshman has been a top five runner in both races
Second Group: Erin Fedewa (Sophomore), Nicole Rheinlander (Sophomore), Chelsea Leroux (Junior), Shannon Walls (Sophomore)
SEC PREVIEW COURSE
The course at Ole Miss will be noticeably hillier than the previous two courses South Carolina has run, leading to possibly slower times. Rain in the Oxford area the past 16 days will also lead to wet conditions that also tend to lead to slower times. It will also be South Carolina’s first look in a 6K race this season.
LAST TIME OUT
South Carolina’s cross country team raced to their second victory in two races this season with the team win at the Asics/Winthrop Invitational. Running against the top Southern Conference teams, the Gamecocks followed the one-two punch of senior Dani Barnes and sophomore Beatrice Biwott to score 46 points to Davidson’s 53 and Elon’s 56. The victory runs their record to 14-0 against opponents for the 2009 season.
