Sept. 13, 2014

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COLUMBIA, S.C. – After a near hour weather delay due to lightning, the South Carolina cross country team proved too much for both the weather and its competition as they posted 15 points to win the USC Open #1 on Saturday morning at Hilton Field on Fort Jackson. Junior Anna Todd led the Gamecocks and claimed the individual win with a time of 18:32.11 for her second career win at Carolina.

Right on Todd’s heels throughout the race was sophomore Mary Reiser, a 2013 SEC All-Freshman Team selection, who clocked in at 18:327.54. Finishing third was the team’s top-scoring freshman in Hannah Giangaspro at 18:50.46. All three of Carolina’s top finishers did not compete in the team’s opening meet on Aug. 30.

Also, clocking in under the 19-minute mark was the Gamecocks’ winner from two weeks ago in junior Stephanie Berger who was four seconds better at 18:56:52. Rounding out the scoring for South Carolina was junior Christine Kent who finished at 19:01.95.

The next four spots were claimed by a group of Gamecock freshmen in Emily Harding Meri Heneage, Regina Schreiber and Allie Sprague. Sophomore Melanie Ng rounded out the top 10 places as Carolina put on another dominant performance.

With only two Division I teams in the meet, South Carolina’s 15 points topped Georgia Southern which scored 50 points.

Meet Changer:
Junior Anna Todd was quick from the start of the race and paced a strong showing by the team as she claimed her first win of the season and second of her career, clocking in at 18:32.11.

Key Stat:
South Carolina claimed the top 10 spots in the race and placed 17 competitors in the top 20.

Notables:

• The Gamecocks have won consecutive meets to start the season for the first time since 2011

• South Carolina has finished its first two meets with the lowest possible points, 15.

• After claiming the top nine spots two weeks ago, Carolina claimed the top 10 spots at this meet.

• Thirteen Gamecock freshmen finished in the top 20.

• Of the four racers that Carolina did not have compete in the season-opening meet, each finished in the top six, with three of them taking the top three spots.

Quotable:
South Carolina Assistant Coach for Distance/Cross Country Andrew Allden
Opening Statement
“Again, it’s always nice to win and to win by a substantial margin. The biggest thing I was looking for this week was improvement from our folks who ran two weeks ago, and I saw a lot of that, and to see our top three or four that we held out the past couple weeks from our lineup. They fell into where their workouts suggested that they would fit in. [Anna] Todd, [Mary] Resier and [Hannah] Giangaspro, who we held out two weeks ago, fell right in front of [Stephanie] Berger, who won the meet two weeks ago so I was pleased with that. We had four people in the 18’s and I was happy with that, but would like to have seen a few more kids in the 18’s. I think the workouts are going well and that’s just a matter of time before they start doing that.”

Up Next:
South Carolina will take two weeks off to recover and train for its first 6K race of the season, the Charlotte Invitational, on Sept. 26 at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, N.C.

Tweet of the Meet:

Dance party while we wait for @GamecockXC to start. pic.twitter.com/VdHR0sM18y

— Austin Solheim (@ajsolheim) September 13, 2014