Oct. 16, 2015

LOUISVILLE, KY. – The very best teams in the country will converge in Louisville Saturday morning, as the Cardinals host a Pre-Nationals Meet at their home course. Not only will it provide South Carolina its stiffest test of the 2015 season, but it will be a preview of the course where the upcoming NCAA championship will be held.

The women’s seeded race features eight programs that made it in the latest USTFCCCA Top 25 national poll, and five (Colorado, Oregon, Michigan, Georgetown and Stanford) are in the top 10. There will be two women’s 6K races, one seeded and one unseeded. For Gamecock fans in the area, admission for the meet is just $5.

WEEKEND INFORMATION
Date: Saturday, Oct. 17
Start Time: Women’s 6K – 10:15 a.m | Women’s Unseeded 6K ââ’¬” 11:30 a.m.
Location: Louisville, Ky.
Facility: E.P. Tom Sawyer Park
On Twitter: @GamecockXC
On Facebook: Gamecock Track and Field / Cross Country
2015 Media Guide

In its last time out, South Carolina showed tremendous progress at the 42nd annual Paul Short Run on Oct. 2. The team sent two women to the open 6K race, and 12 into the “gold” 6K, and all but two would finish with new career-best times.

As a team, the Gamecocks finished 18th out of 35, improving from 2014’s race in both the team finish (19th in 2014) and combined places (497 in 2015, 576 in 2014). Mary Reiser would lead the way for the team, and marked her place in program history in the process.

Reiser finished 22nd overall in a field of 312 runners, recording a new personal best at 21:10. The finish puts her fifth in program history for the 6K distance, just ahead of teammate Anna Todd’s 2014 performance at the regional championship (21:11.70). In an interesting subplot, Reiser was pressed by her twin sister, Caroline, who runs for East Carolina. The two were side-by-side throughout the race, with Mary edging her out at the line for family bragging rights.

Each of the team’s top seven scored finishers recorded career bests, and sophomore Allie Sprague added a 81st-place finish to her new best. The young Gamecock roster made considerable jumps in time and had five sophomores or freshmen in its top seven.

For updates as the results roll in, be sure to follow Gamecock Cross Country on Twitter and Facebook.