Oct. 31, 2014

Results

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The South Carolina cross country team finished 13th with 348 points at the 2014 SEC Championship today, hosted by the University of Alabama at the Harry Pritchett Running Course.

No. 5 Arkansas won the women’s 6K race with 32 points, led by Dominique Scott and Grace Heymsfield, who finished in first and second. No. 14 Vanderbilt was the only other team with less than 100 points, scoring 85. Host Alabama took third with 140 points, followed by Missouri with 142, and Mississippi State with 172.

The Gamecocks were led once again by junior Anna Todd, who finished a second-and-a-half off of her 6K personal record at 21:03.5 in 36th place.

Carolina had a group of six runners finish within 20 spots of one another, with junior Stephanie Berger clocking in at 22:16.3 in 87th place. Sophomore Mary Reiser was right behind her at 22:18.6.

Freshman Regina Schreiber was 93rd with a new personal best time of 22:24.8. Junior Christine Kent rounded out the scoring for the Gamecocks, finishing right behind Schreiber at 22:27.4.

Freshman Monica York was the sixth Carolina runner to cross the line, coming in at 103rd at 22:45.3. Redshirt freshman Meri Heneage was two spots back of her at 22:51.0

Meet Changer:
Junior Anna Todd was the Gamecocks’ top finisher for the fifth time this season, clocking a time of 21:03.5, just under two seconds shy of her 6K record.

Key Stat:
Todd’s time of 21:03.5, which was 36th this season would have been good for 17th at the 2013 SEC Championship.

Notables: • Todd finished less than two second off of her 6K personal best, which she set earlier this year at the Paul Short Invitational. • Four of the five Gamecocks that scored points for the team were juniors or sophomores. • Carolina fielded five freshmen that were competing in the first conference championship of their careers. • 32 runners in the field finished with times under 21 minutes.

Quotable:
South Carolina Assistant Track and Field Coach for Distance/Cross Country Andrew Allden
“I’m disappointed with the results. I thought we could have had a top 10 finish with a good, solid performance. We beat Tennessee earlier in the year and they finished 11th so to lose to them today and to whined up 13th was disappointing. We had some good performance today, but certainly I don’t think it was anything near our best performances of the year. Half of the team we fielded today were freshmen so that’s just part of the journey and they learned how tough the SEC is.”

Up Next:
The Gamecocks will take the two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Southeast Regional in Louisville, Ky., at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park. The women’s 6K will begin at 1 p.m., ET.

Tweet of the Meet:

Can’t be at Alabama but cheering as much as I can with the limited resources. @GamecockXC #SECChampionships pic.twitter.com/3U5XxqwR8u

— David ☀☔ Yang (@Dayangsta) October 31, 2014