Oct. 9, 2010
Women's Results
Men's Results
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The Samford University women's and men's cross country teams each finished second in their respective meets Saturday morning in the 2010 Samford Invitational at Hoover's Veterans Park. The meet was held in conjunction with the Southeast XC Showdown and served as a preview meet for the NCAA South Regional Championships which Samford will host in November.
The Bulldogs set a goal to run and finish as a team this weekend and Samford head coach Rod Tiffin said, although he is disappointed that the Bulldogs walked away without a team title, he thought they accomplished their goal.
"I think for the most part we ran well as a team," Tiffin said. "You know, we came in and wanted to try to beat UAB today but weren't able to do that on the women's side. But overall, it was a good race. We got to run a big hill which helped us get ready for the conference meet in three weeks. I mean, our goal is to get better every week and I think we are still doing that. I think we are still in the driver's seat with the women and our guys are moving forward just like we expected them to do."
The UAB women took the team win with 29 points followed by Samford in second place with 42. Belmont placed third with 68 points while Kennesaw State took fourth with 97 points and Birmingham-Southern came in fifth with 122 points.
Rhiannon Johns of UAB and Mackenzie Howe of Kennesaw State were the top two finishers in the women's 5K race with times of 17:52.53 and 18:02.28, respectively.
Lauren D'Alessio was the top runner for the Bulldog women, clocking a time of 18:06.28 for third place. Hillary Neal finished sixth with a time of 18:53.26 while Ina Ables was Samford's third top-ten finisher with a time of 18:57.70 to take eighth place.
Deanna Zidar placed 12th with a time of 19:18.20 followed by Claire Grogan in 14th place with a time of 19:31.82. Holly Benson placed 18th with a time of 19:45.69 while Alli Keithan (20:13.16), Rachel Sims (20:20.48) and Lauren Pilcher (20:22.13) finished 21st, 22nd and 23rd. Brooke Smith came in 25th with a time of 20:28.64 followed by Lillie Jackson in 30th with a time of 20:53.40. Lauren Ewart (21:22.90) and Madison Davis (21:27.50) rounded out the Samford field in 32nd and 33rd places.
Kennesaw State took the men's team title with 16 points followed by Samford in second place with 47 points. Birmingham-Southern placed third with 66 points.
"On the guys' side, I thought we really ran well," Tiffin said. "Our freshman guys are getting better every week and they seem to really be responding to the training. We are really excited about seeing where we finish up with those guys."
Kennesaw State owned the top three spots in the men's 8K race while former Bulldog Blaise Carie, who ran unattached, placed fourth with a time of 26:05.87.
Layton Dorsett was the top runner for the Bulldog men for the second week in a row. The freshman placed eighth with a time of 27:17.18 followed by freshman James Graham in ninth place with a time of 27:28.86 and senior Scott Cope in 10th place with a time of 27:30.64. John Gayle and Ramsey White came in 13th and 14th with times of 28:17.81 and 28:20.84, respectively. Dan Hall (31:03.77) and George Mardre (31:57.88) rounded out the Samford field in 28th and 29th places.
Samford will be back in action next Saturday when the Bulldogs head to Chattanooga to run in the UTC Front Runner Invitational. The meet will be Samford's last before the Southern Conference Championships in Boone, N.C., on October 30.
