Aug. 31, 2007
View Women’s Belmont/Vanderbilt Opener Results | Men’s Results
View 2007 Belmont/Vanderbilt Opener Photo Gallery
Nashville, Tenn. – They might be running on a higher level of competition, but that did not stop two freshmen from leading the Commodore women at the Belmont/Vanderbilt Opener Friday night at Warner Park. Rita Jorgensen and Adrienne DiRaddo finished 4th and 9th, respectively, overall in a meet that featured 134 runners from 16 different schools. In the 4k race, Jorgensen posted a time of 14:28.31 while DiRaddo finished in 14:36.35.
Carmen Mims and Julie Eckerly also ran outstanding races for Vanderbilt. Mims finished 10th overall in a time of 14:49.86. Right behind her was Eckerly in 11th place with a time of 15:00.51.
Head Coach Steve Keith was impressed with the young freshmen.
“Rita Jorgensen looked good. She handled the hills very well,” said Keith. “Adrienne DiRaddo was obviously very motivated to do well in college and jumped right up there with Carmen Mims. I was happy to see Erin Guglielmo step up and help out as our fifth runner.”
The men’s team was led by Austin Williamson, who finished 7th overall. His time in the 5k race was 15:32.87. Thomas Davis finished 25th overall in 16:03.03. Rick Semones ran very well and finished 27th overall in 16:10.57.
Keith was happy with the men’s showing.
“The men did well,” said Keith, who later added, “Austin Williamson ran a nice, tough race. Belmont has a team that could conceivably make the NCAA Championships, and he ran well with those guys. Thomas Davis is coming off of an injury and will be back to full strength in a couple of weeks. Rick Semones should be singled out. He had an excellent race.”
The Commodore Cross Country teams return to action on September 15 at Percy Warner Park in the annual Commodore Classic.
