Oct. 18, 2011
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After breaking into the Top-30 USTFCCCA Coaches’ poll for the first time in school history on September 27th with a No. 30 ranking, the Vanderbilt women’s cross country team vaulted themselves to third on the list after their second-place finish at Wisconsin this past weekend.
“We’re very honored to be ranked third this early in the season,” said assistant coach Rhonda Riley. “I think the key now is to keep the girls healthy and positive and to continue to train just like we’ve been doing.”
The women beat 19 teams on last week’s national poll, including No. 1 Villanova, No. 2 Providence, No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 New Mexico, and No. 8 Syracuse. Paced by senior Alexa Rogers with a 17th place finishing time of 20:32, the pack of Vanderbilt runners ran their way into second with runners one through five finishing within 37 seconds of each other.
“It’s a reflection of how well we ran last weekend, and going head-to-head against some of the best in the country was a great opportunity for the program and the ladies showed well,” said head coach Steve Keith. “We’ve got a hell of a fight ahead of us with Florida and Arkansas at the conference meet and that’s going to be our main focus right now.”
The women turn their focus back to their training, already with their focus set on the SEC Championships in two weeks. Vanderbilt’s women are seeking to do what no other Commodore cross country team has ever done–win an SEC title. Last year, they placed third in the meet, falling behind first place Florida and second place Arkansas.
