Commodores run away with Classic

Sept. 14, 2013

Complete Results

Women’s Full Results | Men’s Full Results

Nashville, Tenn. – The No. 20 Vanderbilt women’s team ran away from the field Saturday morning at the Commodore Classic at Percy Warner Park winning the team race with four runners in the top 10 and scoring 38 points in topping Lipscomb (65 points) and Ole Miss (83 points).

The Commodores went straight to the front at the beginning of the race and did not back off the gas over the 5K course with a pack of black and gold runners at the front. Redshirt freshman Lily Williams, making her cross country debut for the Dores, led the way for Vandy running 17:25.73 to place fifth overall. Sophomore Hannah Jumper (17:31.47) and freshman Carmen Carlos (17:32.36) were right behind Williams placing sixth and seventh. Juniors Rebecca Chandler (17:36.28) and Claire Benjamin (17:37.80) rounded out the Commodores’ scoring finishing ninth and 11th, respectively.

For the second straight race this season, Benjamin shattered her personal-best in the cross country 5K taking more than one minute off her time at the Belmont Opener. Chandler also turned in a personal record taking 20 seconds off her previous best. Carlos’ time was also the best of her young career, running over one minute faster than she did in her collegiate debut two weeks ago.

The Commodores’ team depth was evident with eight runners finishing in the top 25. Vanessa Valentine was the sixth VU runner across the line and 17th overall in a time of 17:43.82 just in front of Grace Orders, who ran 17:47.19 for 19th place. Freshman Courtney Kriegshauser smashed her personal best with a 17:54.04 for 25th place.

Sophomore Sara Barron ran a personal-best 18:15.26 for 36th place. Reagan Anderson, in her second collegiate race, ran 18:15.93 to top her time from her first race two weeks ago. Kara Slavoski was the next Commodore across the line in 18:40.96. Katherine Delaney clocked in at 18:48.65 and Megan Yohe ran 19:00.27 to round out the Dores’ squad.

The women return to action in two weeks at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn.

In the men’s race, the Commodores ran a solid race with junior John Ewing leading the way in the team’s 13th place finish among the 19 Division I teams. Ewing covered the 8K course in 26:08.70 for 50th place overall. Matthew Cleveland was the next black and gold runner across the line running 26:39.99. Nick French ran a personal best of 26:55.98 in the 8K. Freshman Jake Van Geffen, in his first collegiate 8K race, ran 27:03.03 to be the fourth Dore over the finish line. David McAdams was close behind with a time of 27:04.17 just in front of Andrew Fix, who ran 27:04.40. Sam Andrews finished his first collegiate 8K in 28:00.78. Dan Henderson rounded out the Vandy team in a time of 29:15.46.

The men now have three weeks off before returning to racing action at the Greater Louisville Classic in Louisville, Ky.