Sept. 25, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Coming off of back-to-back wins to open the season on its home course at Hilton Field on Fort Jackson, the South Carolina cross country team will hit the road Friday as the squad travels to Charlotte, N.C., for the Charlotte Invitational at McAlpine Creek Park. It will be the team’s first 6K race of the season after previously running 5K’s in the first two meets.
Competing with the Gamecocks in the women’s race are Anderson, Brevard, Central Academy, Charlotte, Columbia College, Converse, Davidson, Florida State, Johnson C. Smith, Limestone, Mars Hill, Samford, SCAD, Shorter, UNC Pembroke, USC-Beaufort, Wake Tech, West Alabama and Western Carolina.
MEET INFO:
Date: Fri., Sept. 26
Start Time: 6 p.m. ET
Location: McAlpine Creek Park
Results: FlashResults
Meet Notes
EXPERIENCE AT McALPINE
The Gamecocks have competed at McAlpine Creek Park the past two seasons, running a 5K last year at the Royal Cross Country Challenge, and a 6K in 2012 at the NCAA Southeast Regional. The Gamecock all-time top times list is littered with marks from the Charlotte course with both the 5K (Meredith Mill, 17:03.6) and 6K (Kayla Lampe, 20.40.43.) South Carolina records coming at McAlpine.
15
Although Carolina has won its opening two meets several times since 2000, one thing the team has not done until this season is score a perfect 15 points in each of its opening wins.
SEEING GARNET IN THE FRONT
In its opening two meets, South Carolina runners have continuously finished one after another. At the Gamecock Invitational, Carolina went 1-9 and placed 13 runners in the top 15. Two weeks later, at the USC Open #1, the Gamecocks had 17 racers finish in the top 20.
REGIONALLY RANKED
The team, which returned the majority of its runners from last season when it finished 14th at the Southeast Regional, is currently ranked 15th in the Southeast Region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
GETTING NUMBER TWO
Junior Anna Todd picked up her first win of the season, and second of her career. At the USC Open #1, the Spartanburg, S.C. native, by recorded a time of 18:32.11, just ahead of sophomore Mary Reiser.
BERGER GETS FIRST WIN
At the opening meet of the season, the Carolina Invitational, junior Stephanie Berger earned the first win of her Gamecock career. The West Salem, Ohio, native clocked in at 19:00.65, to lead a pack of eight Gamecocks, as Carolina finished 1-9.
STARTING FAST
The win at the Carolina Invitational marked the third time in the last four years that South Carolina has claimed a win in its season-opening meet.
FRESHMEN STEPPING UP
Of the eight freshmen that competed for the Gamecocks in the opening meet, six being true freshmen, all eight finished in the top 15. True freshman Allie Sprague was the top finisher of the group, claiming second with a time of 19:14.26. Two weeks later, the Gamecocks again placed eight freshmen in the top 15, with seven being true freshmen. Hannah Giangaspro led the group with a third-place finish with a time of 18:50.46. She was one of four runners with a sub-19-minute time.
REISER LEADING THE WAY
Mary Reiser is the team’s top returner, after becoming the third freshman from South Carolina to be named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team in the last six years, as she placed 33rd at the SEC Championships in 2013. Reiser set the fifth-fastest 5K time in school history at the Royal Cross Country Challenge at 17:39.0 and finished in the top 30 at the NCAA Southeast Regional.
SEC PRESEASON WATCH LIST
Joining Reiser on this year’s SEC Cross Country Preseason Watch List is Kayla Lampe, who did not compete during the 2013 season due to injury and has been hampered by another throughout the summer. The redshirt junior garnered SEC All-Freshman Team honors in 2012 and Second-Team All-SEC accolades with a 13th-place showing at the SEC Championships (21:02.30). Later that season, she earned All-Southeast Region honors, finishing eighth with a time of 20:40.43, which is the fastest 6K time in South Carolina history.
RETURNING EXPERIENCE
Despite losing their top runner from a season ago, the Gamecocks return their next six runners in Reiser (sophomore), Todd (junior), Berger (junior), Christine Kent (junior), Martha McCoy (sophomore), along with the possibility of Lampe (junior).
FRESHMAN CLASS
Coach Allden has considered this year’s freshman class “top-to-bottom to be one of the strongest recruiting classes [the program] has had.” Leading the group of 13 are Florida natives Hannah Giangaspro, a top 3200-meter runner in the state, and Emily Harding, who posted a Top 30 nationally in the 1600 meters in 2013. Outside of Florida, the freshman class hails from the Carolinas, the Mid-Atlantic region and Illinois.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
With 27 athletes on the 2014 roster, the Gamecocks have 13 new faces on the team this fall that mix in with six others who joined the program last year, meaning 70 percent of the team has only been at South Carolina for a year or less.
LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE
The Gamecocks are led by second-year coach Andrew Allden as assistant track coach in charge of distance and cross country, who reunited last year with head track and field coach Curtis Frye after 12 years away from Columbia. Allden brings 28 years of coaching experience to the Gamecocks in regards to training.
UP NEXT
This weekend’s 6K meet will be the second for the Gamecocks in eight days as they will travel to Bethlehem Pa., on Oct. 4 for the Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University. It is expected to be the toughest field South Carolina will face this season with multiple nationally-ranked teams in the field.
