Sept. 14, 2012
NASHVILLE — The Vanderbilt men’s and women’s cross country teams are set to host one of the deepest fields in the history of the Commodore Classic.
The annual races are set for Saturday, September 15, at Nashville’s Percy Warner Park. Action for the men will get underway at 9:00 a.m., followed by the women at 9:45 a.m. Both races will be followed by another set of men’s and women’s races for non-Division I schools and unattached runners at 10:30 and 11:15 a.m., respectively.
With Vanderbilt also hosting the 2012 SEC Championships at Percy Warner, the field has grown in both size and depth to an unprecedented level. Eight women’s teams and seven men’s teams from the SEC will participate in the race.
In addition, both races will feature a significant number of teams ranked in the USTFCCCA’s South Regional Rankings. The men’s race will go off with seven of the top-15 teams in the south, while the women’s race will feature nine of the top-15 programs.
On the women’s side, it will mark the first race of the season for several of the top Commodore runners. All-SEC runners Liz Anderson, Jordan White and Kristen Smith are expocted to make their season debuts on Saturday.
Also running for Vanderbilt will be seniors Kristen Findley and Allie Scalf, junior Meghan Yohe, sophomores Hannah Jumper, Clair Benjamin, Rebecca Chandler and Amira Joseph and freshman Sara Barron.
The Commodores ran only freshmen and sophomores in the Belmont Opener two weeks ago, with Jumper winning the race. Chandler (fourth) and Barron (sixth) also earned top-10 finishes as Vanderbilt took the team title.
On the men’s side, senior Billy Malmed will look to follow up a 28th place finish at the Belmont Opener. The Commodores will also send out seniors Alan Ash and Tomas Salazar, junior David McAdams, along with five sophomores and two freshmen.
Vanderbilt’s sophomore class of Andrew Bachman, Matthew Cleveland, John Ewing, Dan Henderson and Joel Jones are expected to be the core of the program, while freshmen Andrew Fix and Nick French will also run this weekend.
The men placed eighth at the Belmont Opener.
