Sept. 18, 2010
Women’s Results | Men’s Results
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s cross country team dominated in the 2010 Commodore Classic Invitational, at Percy Warner Park on Saturday. The women took first place overall out of 16 teams. The men finished sixth out of 13 competitors.
Rita Jorgensen, a senior out of Memphis, TN, and Jordan White, a sophomore from Old Chatham, N.Y., crossed the finish line a second apart with White scoring her personal best at 18:01. Sophomore Allie Scalf, of Johnson City, shaved off 15 seconds from her own personal best in the 5k competition, crossing the finish line at 18:11.
With a crowd of nearly 500 spectators, in mild, sunny conditions in the mid to low 70’s the Vanderbilt women finished strong with five runners in the top nine spots scoring 21 points, nearly 33 points ahead of second place finishers, Lipscomb University.
Coach Steven Keith was pleasantly surprised by Saturday’s results.
“It’s what the doctor ordered,” Keith said. “That was the plan we were looking at. I didn’t really anticipate that fast, though. They’re getting out hard. They’re feeling good, and being able to handle it. I love it.”
Keith also credited four years of recruiting as a contributing factor to the win. “It’s just the depth as far as four years of recruiting. So we’ve got freshmen through seniors all contributing. We’ve got an opportunity to really put everybody in the mix from now,” Keith said.
Senior Adrienne DiRaddo, who earlier this week said her goal was to run as a tight unit to score more team points, placed sixth out of a total of 127 runners, breaking her personal best as well, crossing the finish line at 18:28.
“It was good to see that much black and gold up front,” DiRaddo said.
For Jorgenson, the first place position was satisfying, but the team effort is what she emphasized after the win.
“Jordan, Ali, and I pretty much tried to maintain control of the race. I didn’t expect to win, but I’m glad I did my senior year, and that our team put forth a solid effort.”
In other results, Chattanooga placed third, followed by Belmont University, Middle Tennessee State University, and University of Tennessee (UT-Knoxville) finishing at sixth. In the men’s 8k run, UT-Knoxville placed first with 27 overall points, followed by Chattanooga, and Belmont respectively. Vanderbilt scored 158 points with Junior Jenner Kizer of Fort Worth, TX, who led the pack for the commodores with a 26:34 time.
Keith noted that some players were not up to their best physical shape the last couple of days prior to the race, but praised the men for their effort.
“We have something to build from. We’re working hard. This is a tough course too. I never question their effort. They fight hard out there,” he said.
The Commodores will have two weeks off before traveling to Louisville, KY for the Louisville Invitational on Oct. 2.
