GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Vanderbilt cross country competed Friday at the NCAA South Region Championships at Mark Bostick Golf Course where both teams earned top-15 placements. The women’s team was 12th and the men’s team came in 14th. A total of eighth Dores recorded personal or season-best times at the meet.
“Today really showed how we have been working to elevate the program across the board,” director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas said. “We have a lot of grit and determination and character that is building on this team, and it showed.”
For the third time this season, Julia Rosenberg was the top Commodore finisher for the women, crossing the finish line 38th overall and recording a personal-best time of 19:55.9. Caroline Eck, who was Vanderbilt’s second runner to finish, came in 57th and PRed with a time of 20:19.8. The third Dore to finish was Colette Kinsella who placed top 15 among freshmen and 71st overall. Catherine Sommerfeld and Emma Curry, who placed 77th and 79th, respectively, rounded out Vandy’s scoring performers.
Joslin Blair (21:25.1), Curry (20:38.6), Kinsella (20:34.4) and Sommerfeld (20:36.6) turned in personal bests, and Cameron Fawcett recorded a season-best time of 21:04.4.
“Our ladies came from having one of the best conference meets in recent years two weeks ago and came and had a hard-fought race against some highly ranked teams,” Thomas said. “We had some great showings by our seniors on the team and whenever you see that, you’re pretty pleased.”
The men’s team was led by Jackson Scruggs for the first time this season. He placed 12th among freshmen and 79th overall with a time of 31:21.3. Andrew Pahnke was the second Vanderbilt student-athlete to cross the finish line, coming in 89th with a time of 31:38.0. Vandy’s third finisher was Zach Hodges who was 94th overall with a personal-best time of 31:41.4. Jack DesRoches. (32:00.3) and Brady Bliven (32:05.7) were additional scorers for the Commodores.
“The men came in in a year where we have definitely increased our depth and overall quality with the development of the guys who are returners and with a lot of newcomers in freshmen and transfers,” Thomas stated. “It’s really good to see where these bricks are being laid for the type of program we know we’re capable of having at Vanderbilt. The guys had a great race. Kudos to the seniors on the men’s team who have come in to lead this young talented group and…