Oct. 21, 2014
The Vanderbilt cross country team produced an attention-grabbing performance last Friday — and on Tuesday, the Commodores reaped the rewards.
Fueled by their impressive ninth-place finish at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational, the Commodores zoomed up 13 spots in this week’s USTFCCCA poll, climbing to a season-high No. 14 ranking when the poll was released Tuesday.
For complete poll, click HERE.
The sizable leap in the rankings is certain to be an emotional boost for the Commodores as they head into the postseason.
“It feels like we have some positive momentum as we look toward the SEC Championships (on Oct. 31) and the NCAA Regionals which are just a few weeks away,” said head coach Steve Keith.
Vanderbilt carried a No. 27 ranking into last Friday’s race, which featured 22 of the nation’s top 30 teams. Vanderbilt’s top five runners posted a spread of only 35 seconds, representing the second-best margin of any team in the race, and the Commodores finished ahead of 10 teams who were ranked ahead of them entering the race.
Carmen Carlos led the way for Vanderbilt, posting a career-best time of 20:40 to finish 42nd overall. She was followed by Katherine Delaney (20:52, 67th), Claire Benjamin (20:54, 69th), Amira Joseph (21:05, 85th) and Sara Barron (21:15, 104th). Rebecca Chandler was next at 22:07.
“The ladies have worked hard this season and it was very rewarding to see their hard work come together when it counted at Wisconsin,” said assistant coach Rhonda Riley. “It is nice to be recognized nationally going into the championship part of our season and motivates the women to keep believing in the process.”
Vanderbilt has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the past three seasons, and Friday’s effort proved that the Commodores seem primed to extend that streak this year. Still, Keith isn’t taking anything for granted.
“It was great to see the hard work by the women’s team pay off with some national recognition but we know, on any given day, these things can change,” he said.