Oct. 15, 2015
Headed to different destinations, the Vanderbilt men and women will both be looking to close out the regular season in strong style this weekend while facing stiff challenges. The VU women, ranked No. 21 in the nation and No. 1 in the South Region, are headed to Madison, Wisc., to compete in Wisconsin adidas Invitational while the Vanderbilt men travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the Crimson Classic. The Vanderbilt women will be competing against a stacked field that features 20 of the USTFCCCA’s Top-30 teams. The Commodores will be looking to produce a performance similar to last year’s effort in Wisconsin, where they took ninth place and finished ahead of 10 teams that were ranked higher than them entering the meet. The VU men, meanwhile, will likewise have a stiff test in Tuscaloosa, where they will run into four SEC rivals and host of other quality teams. Here’s a closer look at the two events this weekend, which will be the final tune-ups for both VU squads before the SEC Championships:
VANDERBILT WOMEN
Event: Wisconsin adidas Invitational
Day, Date: Friday, Oct. 16
Host: Wisconsin
Site: Madison, Wisconsin
Start Times: 11 a.m. Women’s 6k Invite l 12:30 p.m. Women’s 6k Open
Results: HERE
l The skinny on the Commodores:
The Vanderbilt women are rolling through a highly-successful season that has included an impressive fourth-place finish at the tradition-rich Notre Dame Invitational in the Commodores’ most recent action two weeks ago in South Bend, Ind. Vanderbilt has also posted a pair of second-place finishes this season — at the Belmont Opener and the Commodore Classic. Freshman Caroline Pietrzyk has been the top Commodore at all three meets, and has twice earned SEC Freshman Runner of the Week honors. She posted a personal-best time of 16:56.3 at Notre Dame, and earned 17th place overall against a stacked field. Pietrzyk was joined in the top-30 by two of her teammates — Vanessa Valentine was 27th with a PR of 17:09.4, and Sara Barron was 30th with a PR of 17:11.7. Vanderbilt freshman Sara Tsai took a tumble early in the race but recovered nicely to finish 35th with a PR of 17:15.7, and Reagan Anderson also PR’ed while taking 41st at 17:20.0.
l Scouting the field:
Vanderbilt coach Steve Keith said Friday’s meet is a essentially a preview of the NCAA Championships, and it’s not hard to see why he feels that way. The meet will feature 20 teams that are ranked by the USTFCCCA, including top-ranked New Mexico, along with four additional Top-10 teams — No. 3 Providence, No. 6 Boise State, No. 8 Iowa State and No. 10 Washington. Other ranked teams in the field include: Arkansas (11), North Carolina State (12), Michigan State (13), Wisconsin (14), Syracuse (15), Penn State (16), Virginia (17), Notre Dame (18), North Carolina (19), West Virginia (20), Vanderbilt (21), BYU (22), William & Mary (23), Minnesota (23) and Princeton (25). The other teams in the field include: Arizona State, Baylor, Boston College, Columbia, Dartmouth, Florida State, Harvard, Indiana, Iona, Lamar, Northern Arizona, Ohio State, SMU, Toledo, Tulsa and UCLA.
l Scheduled to run for the Vanderbilt women:
Reagan Anderson, Sara Barron, Maddie Criscione, Katherine Delaney, Megan Huebner, Caroline Pietrzyk, Sara Tsai, Vanessa Valentine, Lily Williams, Devon Grisbaum, Ginger Hutton, Courtney Kriegshauser.
l Looking back to last year:
The Commodores tied for ninth place at last year’s Wisconsin adidas Invitational while competing against a field that featured 22 of the nation’s top 30 teams. Vanderbilt’s top five runners posted a spread of only 35 seconds, which was the second-best margin of any team in 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). Vanderbilt finished ahead of 10 teams that were ranked in front of the Commodores in the USTFCCCA poll. Vanderbilt also had a strong showing in the Open race, with Reagan Anderson finishing 20th at 21:40 and Maddie Criscione taking 21st, also at 21:40.
l QUOTING THE COACHES:
Head coach Steve Keith
On the amount of quality teams at Friday’s meet.
“It’s every bit a national championship simulator. This is our fifth year of going (to the adidas meet), and it’s always that way. … With this many ranked teams in the field, you find out a lot about where you are. I mean, if we want to play in that sandbox (with the top teams in the nation), we’ve got to show it.”
On what his team learned from the Notre Dame meet.
“I think our group really realized what’s most effective – and that was our 24-second 1-5 split. … And that’s what I am telling them: If they can get close to 20 seconds, from 1 to 5, they’ll be in business.”
Associate head coach Rhonda Riley:
On the potential impact of this meet.
“We can use this as a springboard as we head into the Championship portion of the season. The girls will be able to look back on this meet – and the previous meets – and know that they have competed against some really good teams. And that experience will certainly be helpful.”
On the last year’s strong showing in Wisconsin.
“I think last year’s performance helps build some confidence, and we’d love to replicate that or improve on it. The girls realize they are further along than they were at this point last year, and we’ve also added some new pieces that have made us stronger. So I think we are a confident team.”
VANDERBILT MEN
Event: Crimson Classic
Day, Date: Friday, Oct. 16
Host: Alabama
Site: Harry Pritchett Running Course (Tuscaloosa, Ala.)
Start Time: 5:30 p.m. Men’s 8k
Results: HERE
l The skinny on the Commodores:
Vanderbilt enters this weekend with a high amount of confidence after a strong showing two weeks ago at the Notre Dame Invitational, where Jake Van Geffen ran to an 11th-place finish with a personal-best time of 25:08.7 to help the Commodores take 13th place. Vanderbilt’s Nick French was 53rd at 25:45.0, Jason Vincze was 76th at 26:07.2, Evan Suzman was 107th at 26:39.4 and Nikos Glotsis was 118th with a time of 26:57.1.
l Scouting the field:
The Commodores will be competing among a talented 31-team field that includes SEC rivals Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Mississippi State. Other teams in the field include: Alabama State, Belmont, Florida State, Houston Baptist, Lipscomb, Louisiana Tech, Loyola-New Orleans, McNeese State, Memphis, Meridian Community College, Montevallo, North Florida, Oklahoma State, Sam Houston State, Samford, Shorter, South Alabama, Southern Illinois, Tennessee Tech, Texas A&M, Texas Wesleyan, Texas-Arlington, Texas-Rio Grande Valley, Troy, ULM, and West Georgia.
l Scheduled to run for the Vanderbilt men:
Dan Arthur, Caleb Casolaro, Sam DeFabrizio, Waqqas Fazili, Nick French, Nikos Gkotsis, Sam Reilly, Evan Suzman, Jake Van Geffen and Jason Vincze.
l Looking back to last year:
The Commodores closed out their regular season last year with a a fifth-place finish at the Florida State Invitational in Tallahassee, Fla. Nick French led the way for the Commodores, taking 10th place with a time of 25:52.64. Vanderbilt had two other runners among the Top-25, with John Ewing taking 16th at 26:18.68 and Jake Van Geffen finishing 25th at 26:37.67. Vanderbilt’s Sam Reilly took 27th at 26:43.74 and Andrew Fix was 34th at 27:15.24.
l QUOTING THE COACH:
Head coach Steve Keith
On the momentum the team gained from Van Geffen’s big performance two weeks ago.
“That was big for us, and we think Nick and Jason can feed off of that really well, and then maybe we can get four or five guys fighting to be right up there behind them.”
On the field in Tuscaloosa.
“It will be really good. We’ll see a handful of SEC teams that we will want to keep an eye on, and we want to make sure we keep progressing.”
