Stoddard Finishes Sixth at East Carolina Pirate Invitational
GRIMESLAND, N.C. – South Carolina cross country senior Anna Kathryn Stoddard notched a top-10 finish at the East Carolina Pirate Invitational on Friday evening at Overton’s Lake Kristi.
In the final 6K of the regular season, Stoddard finished sixth with a time of 21:09.7. Stoddard’s time marked her second-best 6K, just one second short of her PR (21:08.5).
Finishing second for the Gamecocks was freshman Hillary Neely who came in at 22:27.6. Coming into college having never competed in a cross country race, Neely has been a solid top-five performer for South Carolina in her inaugural campaign.
“We had a solid sixth place finish out of 15 teams,” cross country coach Andrew Allden said. “I’m pleased, in particular with AK’s (Stoddard’s) continued progress, getting within one second of her PR. With the two championships to go, that’s a good position to be in. She just keeps getting better and better every week. Hillary continues to impress as a freshman, following up her first 6K last week with another solid performance (Friday). Kelsey, as a senior, stepped up and ran number three for us and got very close to her PR so I was happy with that as well.”
Senior Kelsey Larkin came in third at 22:45.0, just one second behind her PR (22:44.2), for Carolina in the final regular-season meet of her collegiate cross country career.
Coming in fourth for the Gamecocks, junior Sarah Riser set a new PR at 23:11.2, beating her time of 23:30.4 by almost 20 seconds.
Senior Morgan Adams earned a PR that was over a minute faster than her previous time (24:39.0) after stepping across the line fifth for the Gamecocks in 23:20.8.
“Sarah Riser and Morgan Adams stepping into the top-five for us and having good, solid races was an upside for them and a great way to finish their regular season,” said Allden. “We held out a number of people (Friday) in hopes of having them ready to go at SECs with minor injuries and illnesses. We’re looking forward to being back at full strength at SECs in two weeks.”
RESULTS
Anna Kathryn Stoddard – 21:09.7
Hillary Neely – 22:27.6
Kelsey Larkin – 22:45.0
Sarah Riser – 23:11.2
Morgan Adams – 23:20.8
Savannah Bowers – 23:24.8
Morgan Lee – 23:33.1
Leah Ford – 24:08.9
Sarah-Sims McGrath – 24:20.2
Elizabeth Davison – 24:36.8
Up next, the Gamecocks travel to the SEC Championships hosted by Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 1.
For more information on the Gamecocks, continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com. Subscribe to South Carolina on Stanza to get schedule updates directly in your calendars.
