NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Vanderbilt men’s and women’s cross country continues postseason competition Friday when they compete in the NCAA DI South Region Cross Country Championships at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Florida.
The Commodores had an opportunity to preview the course in September at the Mountain Dew Invitational where the women finished second and the men were sixth. The women will run the same 6-kilometer distance as they did at the SEC Championships, while the men’s race distance will increase to 10 kilometers.
Women’s Preview
The Commodore women are coming off a seventh-place finish at the SEC Championships last month where they were led by Julia Rosenberg’s 44th-place individual finish (21:18.7). The conference meet was the second time this season that Rosenberg was Vandy’s top finisher. Caroline Eck, who is in her fifth year with the team, has also led Vanderbilt at two meets this season and was 60th at the SEC Championships. In just her second meet of the season, Cameron Fawcett was the second Commodore finisher and 53rd overall. Following closely behind was Colette Kinsella who was the 12th freshman and 54th overall to finish. Lainey Phelps has scored at four of five meets this season and placed 66th at SECs.
Vanderbilt women’s cross country placed 10th at last year’s regional meet. Fawcett was the second Commodore to finish and 47th overall.
Men’s Preview
The Vanderbilt men’s cross country team was led by Andrew Pahnke at the SEC Championships where he finished 83rd overall (25:34.7). Zach Hodges followed, crossing the finish line 84th in 25:35.6. Three freshmen, Jackson Scruggs, Brady Bliven and Jack DesRoches, also scored for Vandy at the conference meet.
DesRoches was the top Commodore finisher at two meets this season, the Mountain Dew Invitational and the Joe Piane Invitational. He was named the SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Week after being the top SEC freshman and second overall freshman finisher at the Joe Piane Invitational. Bliven was the first Vanderbilt finisher at the season-opening Belmont Opener in September.
The women’s race will begin at 7:30 a.m. CT and the men’s race will start at 8:30 a.m. CT. Live results and course maps are available online.
