Sept. 28, 2012
NASHVILLE — In each race this season, the Vanderbilt cross country teams have seen the competition level ramp up. That trend continues this weekend when the Commodores head north up Interstate 65 for the Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, September 29.
On the women’s side, Vanderbilt will run two teams. Liz Anderson (Louisville, Ky.), Rebecca Chandler (Jacksonville, Fla.), Kristen Findley (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia), Hannah Jumper (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Grace Orders (Moraga, Calif.), Allie Scalf (Johnson City, Tenn.), Kristen Smith (Clarkston, Mich.) and Jordan White (Old Chatham, N.Y.) will run the 5K Women’s Gold Race at 9:15 a.m. (CT).
The 5K Men’s Blue Race will follow at 9:45 a.m. (CT) with Alan Ash (Atmore, Ala.), Andrew Bachman (Cincinnati, Ohio), Matthew Cleveland (Danville, Ill.), John Ewing (Atlanta, Ga.), Andrew Fix (Mountain Brook, Ala.), Nick French (Boca Raton, Fla.), Joel Jones (Sullivan’s Island, S.C.), Dan Henderson (The Woodlands, Texas), David McAdams (Jefferson City, Mo.) and Tomas Salazar (Summit, N.J.).
Action for the Commodores will conclude with the Women’s 5K Blue Race at 10:30 a.m. (CT). Vanderbilt will run Sara Baron (Oakland, Mich.), Clair Benjamin (Richmond, Va.), Grace Corbett (Rockville, Md.), Katherine Delaney (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), Amira Joseph (Portland, Ore.), Vanessa Valentine (Melbourne, Fla.) and Megan Yohe (Liberty, Mo.) in that race.
The Commodore women will be looking to capture their third win in as many races, after securing victories in the Belmont Opener and Commodore Classic. It will be a tall order, as the 32-team race includes seven teams in the USTFCCCA’s National Top 30.
The eighth-ranked Commodores will be looking to see how they stack up against No. 1 Washington, No. 10 Arkansas, No. 12 Arizona, No. 14 Michigan State, No. 17 Penn State and No. 29 Wisconsin.
While Vanderbilt is used to running in the Greater Louisville Classic, the field is deeper than ever, as the NCAA Championships will be held on the same course in November.
“It will be trial by fire,” Vanderbilt Head Coach Steve Keith said. “We’ll have to get out hard and hopefully still be able to run a progressive race. This is the weekend we want to start racing and really let loose.”
He expects to let his team do exactly that, especially having run a 6K two weeks ago at the Commodore Classic and moving down to a 5K this week.
“It’s a course that won’t kill you if you go out hard and everyone’s going to go out hard,” Keith said. “It’s a very one-dimensional race. It’s flat and there’s nothing to slow you down. We’ll have to get out hard.”
As for runners to watch, Keith expects Anderson to lead his quartet of top runners (Anderson, Findley, Jumper and Smith) as she returns to her home course and her native Louisville.
“It used to be (Anderson’s) home course, so she’s got some ants in her pants right now,” Keith said. “We’ve got some experience on the course, but what no (teams) have right now is the chance to go up against some of the really good teams.”
Anderson was Vanderbilt’s top finisher at the Commodore classic, placing third. Findley (fourth), Smith (sixth) and Jumper (seventh) all joined her in the top 10, as Vanderbilt finished with 42 points, half as many as second-place Ole Miss.
For Vanderbilt’s final scoring runner, Keith has dubbed it “fifth-by-committee” and would not be surprised to see anyone from the remaining four competitors score points. White was first team All-SEC a season ago, while Orders and Chandler were on the SEC All-Freshman Team last year and Scalf was an All-Freshman honoree during her rookie season in 2009.
On the men’s side, the Commodores will run in the Blue Race, giving the team a chance to run out in front as they develop.
“The blue race is really good for the guys,” Keith said. “They can run their normal times and be up in the front in the thick of things instead of swamped down in the field. It’s a great chance to bring them around developmentally.”
At the Commodore Classic, the men’s team placed 17th, edging Georgia State and SEC foe LSU. Cleveland paced the men with a 73rd place finish. Ewing joined Cleveland in the top-100 with a 94th place finish and a time of 26:43.08.
Following Louisville, the Commodores will see their top women’s team head to Madison, Wis., for the Wisconsin-Adidas Invitational on Friday, October 12, while the rest of the women’s and men’s squads will head to the Hoosier State for the Evansville Invitational.
