COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Vanderbilt men’s and women’s cross country earned 13th and ninth place respective finishes Friday at the SEC Cross Country Championships at the Dale Watts Cross Country Course in College Station, Texas.
“It was amazing to be out here today with our new coaching staff and to see all the work they’ve done over the semester, particularly in instilling culture and getting [the student-athletes] motivated,” director of cross country and track and field Althea Thomas said. “We’ve been working on this for four years, and the seed was planted just well enough for them to continue to water it. You can see it in how they performed today, being confident in the plan they put forth and working every single kilometer. Every time you looked up, we were climbing and that’s exactly what we wanted to do.”
The women were led by Julia Rosenberg who finished 27th overall with a season-best time of 19:59.2. At her first-ever SEC Championship, Ellie Wolski was the second Dore to cross the finish line, placing 37th with a personal-best time of 20:06.3. She was followed by Claire Petersen in 48th (20:17.6), Ella Lambert in 57th (20:24.3) and Cameron Fawcett in 96th (20:55.0) to round out Vanderbilt’s scoring.
On the men’s side, Michael Skora paced the Dores once again, coming in 60th individually with a personal-best time of 24:06.0. Close behind him was Brady Bliven who placed 64th, clocking a personal best 24:12.0. Mitchel Drees (24:41.0) and Dylan Ballard (24:41.9) crossed the line one after the other in 89th and 90th, respectively, both recording PRs. Jackson Scruggs, who also recorded a career-best, was Vandy’s fifth and final scorer in 101st with a time of 24:57.7.
Skora and Petersen were each the 10th freshman to finish in their respective races.
Fourteen Commodores recorded either season or personal bests at the conference championships. Gigi Clifford (21:05.1), Casey Bohrer (25:28.3), Patrick Ford (25:06.4), Lambert and David Song (25:08.7) turned in personal-best marks Friday morning. Fawcett and Petersen’s times were season bests.
“In my fourth year with the program, it was a very sweet moment to see six seniors on the ladies’ side be able to compete today and put it all together,” Thomas stated. “The team performed so well. Every week is building momentum. I’m very excited and happy for this group of individuals. They’ve laid a foundation that they can build on for the rest of the…