Oct. 27, 2016
Event: SEC Championships
Date: Friday, Oct. 28
Site: Agri Park in Fayetteville, Ark.
Host: Arkansas
Start Times: Women’s 6K – 10 a.m. (CT)
Men’s 8K – 11 a.m. (CT)
TV Coverage: A one-hour SEC Cross Country Championships highlight show will be broadcast on the SEC Network on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 10 a.m. (CT).
Both of the Vanderbilt cross country teams will travel west to Fayetteville, Ark. for the SEC Championships this Friday at Agri Park in Fayetteville, Ark. Here’s a closer look at the meet:
Skinny on the Commodores:
The women will be looking for a repeat of last year’s success after finishing third in the conference championship meet a year ago. Sara Tsai has been the star performer for the Commodores this season with two top-10 individual finishes this season, including a first-place finish at the Belmont Opener on Sept. 3. Tsai has been the first finisher for the Commodores in every race this season and has a season-best time of 17:03.7.
The men’s cross country team will see plenty of familiar faces on Friday. In their last meet, the Alabama Invitational, the Commodores competed against six fellow SEC opponents. Jake Van Geffen has paced Vanderbilt this season, posting the team-best time in three of four meets this season, including a season-best time of 25:41.70 at the Alabama Invitational on Oct. 14. Andrew Irvine is the other runner to have led the way for the Commodores this season by recording a time of 25:49.90 at the Notre Dame Invitational on Sept. 30.
Scouting out the Competition:
Five SEC cross country teams are ranked among the nation’s top-30 in the most recent U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Division I poll. The Arkansas women are ranked 10th, while Ole Miss is No. 16 and Mississippi State is No. 29. Missouri also received votes in the poll. In the men’s poll, Arkansas and Ole Miss are ranked fifth and 11th, respectively, with the Kentucky men also receiving votes.
Scheduled to run for the Vanderbilt Women:
Reagan Anderson, Regan Bustamante, Carmen Carlos, Maddie Criscione, Kendall Derry, Devon Grisbaum, Megan Huebner, Ginger Hutton, Courtney Kriegshauser, Lauren Moffett, Mailin Struck and Sara Tsai.
Scheduled to run for the Vanderbilt Men:
Dan Arthur, Caleb Casolaro, Sam DeFabrizio, Waqqas Fazili, Nikos Gkotsis, Andrew Irvine, Evan Suzman, Harrison Thomas, Jake Van Geffen, Jason Vincze.
What to watch:
Arkansas is the defending SEC cross country champion on both the men’s and women’s sides. The Razorback men have won the last six SEC crows and 23 in the last 25 years. The Razorback women have won three consecutive SEC titles.
Alabama’s Antibahs Kosgei returns as the defending men’s champion. An Arkansas runner has won the women’s title in four of the last five years, including former Razorback Dominique Scott from 2013-2015.
Agri Park History and Information:
Agri Park opened during the 1996 cross country season and is carved out of a portion of the University of Arkansas’ on-campus agricultural area. The current course configuration has three distinct areas. The open area of the starting chute is separated from the pond and Razorback Meadow by a grove of trees. Razorback Meadow is open and relatively flat, and the pond section has more contour as the trail rises up along the rim of the course’s water feature. This last time Agri Park was the site for the SEC Cross Country Championships was in 2004.
Looking back to last year:
2015 Women’s SEC XC Championship –
Competing against a talent-steeped field at the SEC Championships, Caroline Pietrzyk stormed to a third-place individual finish with a time of 19:54.00. Carmen Carlos was the second Commodore across the line, taking 19th at 20:27.50. Two other VU representatives earned spots among the Top 30, with Vanessa Valentine taking 26th at 20:42.10 and Sara Tsai taking 30th at 20:46.90.
Arkansas’ Dominique Scott won the meet for third consecutive year, posting a time of 19:23.50 to help the No. 4-ranked Razorbacks capture their third straight SEC title with 38 points. Mississippi State was second with 95 points, and Vanderbilt was third with 112.
2015 Men’s SEC XC Championship –
Continuing his strong season, Vanderbilt’s Jake Van Geffen paced the Commodores — and finished 65th overall — with a time of 25:08.70 at the SEC Championships in College Station, Texas. Vanderbilt’s Nick French was the second Commodore across the line, finishing 79th at 25:33.20, and Jason Vincze was 97th at 26:03.40.
Vanderbilt finished 13th in the 13-team field. The No. 8-ranked Arkansas men won the SEC title for the sixth consecutive year, finishing with just 25 points. Texas A&M was a distant second with 98 points and Ole Miss was third at 122.
QUOTING THE COACHES
Head coach Steven Keith
On the teams’ preparation for the meet –
“Prep has gone well the last two weeks and, all in all, we’re pretty healthy. Obviously, we are looking for a complete race, individual and team, and the SEC meet provides a great environment for this to happen.”
On the competition level at the SEC Conference Championship meet –
“The conference has gotten deeper and there is much more parity in team rankings from the top to the middle. Team places will be very close and it will come down to just a few points, but that is championship cross country!”
Assistant coach Bekah Smeltzer:
On the teams’ mindset heading into the race –
“The women are focusing on staying in the moment. Our past races didn’t go so well because we got ahead of ourselves and we lost focus on what makes us Vanderbilt. While the conference meet is going to be much smaller than the fields at both Notre Dame and Wisconsin, the focus is all about making a plan and checking the boxes as we go – Nothing overly complicated.”
On how the SEC Championships will prepare the team for future postseason meets –
“Competing in the SEC means we are competing against some of the best teams in the country. We get another chance to gain some exposure against some high caliber teams. It’ll be great for the veterans to press the restart button and hone in on their racing wits, while our newcomers will be able to get more familiar with this level of competition.”
