Sept. 24, 2011
Head Coach Steve Keith and his team of women cross country runners wanted to place in the top eight at the annual Roy Griak Invitational, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
They came in seventh overall, with a score of 225.
“It was a fantastic effort,” Keith said of his top runners, who were up against nationally-ranked teams such as Brigham Young University. “There are still better races in us, but it was nice to get off to a good start.”
Coming in first, second, and third for the Commodores were the “three musketeers” trio of Alexa Rogers, Louise Hannallah, and Jordan White, who placed ninth, 23rd, and 29th overall, respectively. Rogers crossed the line with a time of 20:57, Hannallah followed at 21:17, with White only a few steps behind at 21:22.
Freshman Grace Orders also ran exceptionally well for Vanderbilt, the fourth Commodore to cross the finish with a 72nd place time of 22:03.
“Grace ran a smart race for a freshman, and was in the top 12 freshmen in the race,” said Keith.
The race was the first of the season that counted towards the NCAA regionals, with teams seeking to earn head-to-head points over other top schools. Eight of the teams coming into the race were ranked in the top-30 and four others received national votes, of which Vanderbilt was receiving eight votes. Over 270 athletes ran in the women’s 6K.
The Commodores beat #18 Penn State, #21 North Carolina State and #23 BYU and were only 25 points behind #11 Washington.
Also competing in the race were juniors Kristen Findley (22:13, 92nd) and Kristen Smith (22:14, 94th) and freshman Amira Joseph (22:32, 114).
“That was something to hang our hats on,” said Keith. “Now it’s back to rest and some training, and focusing on Louisville.”
