TUSCALOOSA,Ala.- The Kennesaw State women’s cross country team held their own, as they found themselves in ninth place at the Crimson Classic 5k race Saturday in at Harry Pritchett Running Park on the campus of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Senior Mackenzie Howe lived up to her strong track record at the course, finishing second in her defense of the individual title.

Competing against 141 participants and 18 schools, the squad found itself in good company with winner Texas A&M, second-place Alabama and third place Auburn. All three teams are ranked in the top 10 by the USTFCCCA in their respective regions. Pleased with Howe and the team’s performance, head coach Stan Sims sees the team is moving in a positive direction.

 “Howe ran a good race against some tough competition,” Sims said. “Heather Morris is running well each week so she can only get better. The girls altogether looked really strong on the hills and overall had a good meet.”

Howe crossed the line second with a personal record of 17:11 in a 5k race. Narrowly beating her was Auburn’s Holly Knight, who came in second behind Howe in last year’s contest by only a three second difference. Although she wasn’t able to repeat as winner of this year’s race, Howe knows she still competed well and that the team is getting stronger each week.

“I was pleased with how the race went today,” said Howe, who earned NCAA All-South Region honors with an 18th place performance on the very same course in the 2009 NCAA South Region Championships, which was set-up as a 6k. “The girls overall handled their first big race really well. They didn’t start off too fast and can only get better from here. We will be seeing a lot of the same teams later on in the season too, so it was good for us.”

Competing with the minimum of five runners, the underclassmen became a strong component in the team’s success. Freshman Heather Morris was the second Owl to finish, coming in with a time of 18:45, landing her in 34th place. Next for the Black and Gold were fellow rookies Stephanie Sawyer, who came in 69th, Alison Wald at 77th and Haley Carson at 91th. Running in her first collegiate 5k, Morris was happy to get it under her belt.

“It was really nice to start out my first 5k and break 19 minutes,” Morris said. “I really liked the course and thought it was a good challenge for us. I tried to be conservative at first and that paid off in the end.”

The Owls compete next in two weeks at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky., Oct. 2.

 

Team Results

1.Texas A&M- 53 points

2. Alabama- 57 points

3. Samford- 111 points

4. Auburn- 130 points

5. Tulane- 157 points

6. Ole Miss- 185 points

7. Southern Miss. – 187 points

8. Nicholls State – 188 points

9. Kennesaw State – 240 points

10. Columbus State – 264 points

11(tie). Troy – 318 points

11. Arkansas P.B. – 318 points

13. Alabama State- 324 points

14. West Alabama- 371 points

15. Miss. Valley State- 374 points

16. Huntingdon- 449 points

17. Alcorn State- 481 points

18. Stillman- 512 points

19. William Carey- 556 points

 


Individual Results

2. Mackenzie Howe (17:11)

34. Heather Morris (18:45)

69. Stephanie Sawyer (19:55)

77. Alison Wald (20:14)

91. Haley Carson (21:02)