Nov. 12, 2005

GAINESVILLE, Fla. ---- After making history in 2004, Samford's Lauren Blankenship again qualified for the NCAA National Cross Country Championships, following a third place finish at the 2005 South Region Championships.

Blankenship ran the 6K race in 20:16.39 to finish third overall behind UTC's Shannon Womack (19:50.16) and Auburn's Angela Homan (20:14.83). Miami's Melanie Schultz finished fourth, rounding out the four individual's to qualify for the 2005 NCAA National Cross Country Championships. In 2004 Blankenship was the first Samford runner ever to receive a National Championship bid. This year Blankenship, an All-American in outdoor track, will look to make history once again as she attempts to become the first Bulldog to be named All-American in cross country.

"We were delighted with Lauren's performance," said Samford head coach Glenn McWaters. "She has had an awesome year. We knew there were three outstanding young ladies going into this and all three of them are going to go back to the national championships. Lauren was one of them, and she's going to go back and try to become an All-American."

Overall the Samford women finished seventh out of 24 teams. The Bulldogs scored 199 points in the race, just one point behind sixth place UTC's 198. Tennessee won the women's race, scoring 76 points. The Volunteers, along with the second-place Georgia Bulldogs (98 points), will advance to compete in the NCAA Championships as well.

"We did the best that we could today," McWaters said. "We've had some nagging injuries since we came back from the conference meet, and those affected us. We'd been nursing those, but we weren't able to run our best race of the year."

Robyn DeBenedet was the next highest finisher for the Bulldogs, placing 46th with a time of 22:27.79. Michelle Brewer ran a 22:27.79 to finish 49th overall, and Katherine Herring ran a 22:34.66 to finish 51st. Britney Almaguer finished 52nd, running a 22:35.35 to round out the top five for Samford. Additionally, Jessica Brewer ran 23:00.24 to finish 74th and Julie Yonts finished 79th with a time of 23:06.93.

The men's team finished 17th overall, scoring 434 points. Alabama won the meet with 40 points, and Florida State was second with 47 points.

"We had a really young guy's team, and some of them had never run a 10K," said McWaters. "These guys are only going to get better, and to be 17th in this region is a good start for them."

Christopher West was the top finisher for the Bulldogs, running the 10K race in 33:12.16 to place 69th. Michael Hanson finished 81st, running a 33:27.31 and Bo Brawner was 95th after posting a 33:54.23. Cameron Bean ran a 34:11.05 to finish 106th and Joel Shaw rounded out the top five, finishing 125th with a time of 35:18.59. Additionally, Drew Anderwald finished 130th, posting a time of 35:49.84.

Women's Team Results (6K)
1. Tennessee, 76
2. Georgia, 98
3. Florida State, 118
4. UAB, 162
5. Florida, 178
6. Tennessee-Chattanooga, 198
7. Samford, 199
8. Vanderbilt, 210
9. Georgia Tech, 250
10. Mississippi State, 279
11. Memphis, 316
12. Alabama, 318
13. South Florida, 319
14. Southern Mississippi, 366
15. Belmont, 385
16. Auburn, 446
17. Florida International, 466
18. Georgia State, 482
19. Jacksonville, 492
20. Miami, 502
21. UCF, 552
22. Mississippi, 579
23. Birmingham-Southern, 648
24. Troy, 648

Top 25 and Samford Women's Finishers (6K)
1. Shannon Womack, Tennessee-Chattanooga, 19:50.16; 2. Angela Homan, Auburn, 20:14.83; 3. Lauren Blankenship, Samford, 20:16.39; 4. Melanie Schultz, Miami, 20:32.41; 5. Felicia Guliford, Tennessee, 20:43.47; 6. Lauren Burks, Georgia, 20:45.09; 7. Laura Bowerman, Florida State, 20:52.59; 8. Elizabeth Ambrus, UAB, 20:53.12; 9. Leah Soro, Tennessee, 21:01.54; 10. Jill Steffens, Georgia, 21:05.44; 11. Julia Hicks, Alabama, 21:09.90; 12. Katie Flaute, Tennessee, 21:13.78; 13. Zita Maglorie, Mississippi State, 21:20.95; 14. Abi Wilshire, Florida State, 21:29.50; 15. Carly Matthews, Tennessee, 21:30.55; 16. Lindsay Sundell, Florida, 21:33.95; 17. Jessica Hellender, South Florida, 21:34.40; 18. Amy Huss, Vanderbilt, 21:34.86; 19. Julie Eckerly, Vanderbilt, 21:35.33; 20. Naomi Kiprotich, Southern Mississippi, 21:35.89; 21. Daniele Riendeau, Memphis, 21:36.53; 22. Kiah Vernon, Georgia, 21:42.71; 23. Sarah Madebach, Georgia, 21:45.82; 24. Benta General, South Florida, 21:46.56; 25. Elizabeth Hilligoss, UAB, 21:47.55; 46. Robyn DeBenedet, Samford, 22:27.79; 49. Michelle Brewer, Samford , 22:32.55; 51 Katherine Herring, Samford, 22:34.66; 52. Britney Almaguer, Samford, 22:35.35; 74. Jessica Brewer, Samford, 23:00.24; 79. Julie Yonts, Samford 23:06.93

Men's Team Results (10K)
1. Alabama, 40
2. Florida State, 47
3. Florida, 77
4. Tennessee, 100
5. Georgia, 147
6. Auburn, 175
7. Georgia State, 235
8. Tennessee-Chattanooga, 247
9. Mississippi State, 269
10. Miami, 302
11. Belmont, 305
12. East Tennessee State, 314
13. South Florida, 335
14. Georgia Tech, 390
15. UCF, 413
16. Mississippi, 419
17. Samford, 434
18. Austin Peay, 479
19. Birmingham-Southern, 514
20. Vanderbilt, 519

Top 25 Agate and Florida Men's Finishers (10K)
1. Tonny Okello, South Alabama, 29:31.70; 2. Andrew Lemoncello, Florida State, 29:42.22; 3. Zach Sabatino, Tennessee, 29:53.18; 4. Augustus Maiyo, Alabama, 30:01.11; 5. Vincent Rono, South Alabama, 30:07.98; 6. Abraham Kutingala, Alabama, 30:18.90; 7. Tom Lancashire, Florida State, 30:24.06; 8. Ian Burrell, Georgia, 30:31.12; 9. Henok Lechebo, Florida, 30:34.07; 10. Ian Mayne, Tennessee-Chattanooga, 30:35.18; 11. Titus Koeh, Alabama, 30:37.90; 12. Alex Korir, Alabama, 30:38.83; 13. Sean Burris, Florida State, 30:40.15; 14. Phil Nichols, Florida State, 30:46.88; 15. Daniel Parker, Florida, 30:53.36; 16. Peter Etoot, Alabama, 30:55.58; 17. Steven Hassen, Florida, 31:06.45; 18. Andy Baska, Tennessee, 31:08.46; 19. Jordan Davis, Auburn, 31:11.62; 20. Kevin Cook, Florida State, 31:13.26; 21. Jeremy Criscione, Florida, 31:13.67; 22. Ben Lukowski, Tennessee, 31:14.09; 23. Jeff Taylor, Tennessee-Chattanooga, 31:18.84; 24. Wade Martin, Mississippi State, 31:20.44; 25. Enoch Nadler, Florida, 31:27.29; 69. Christopher West, Samford, 33:12.16; 81. Michael Hanson, Samford 33:27.31, 95 Bo Brawner, Samford, 33:54.23; 106. Cameron Bean 34:11.05; 125. Joel Shaw, Samford, 35:18.59, Drew Anderwald, Samford, 35:49.84