Sept. 3, 2010
Men’s Results | Women’s Results | 
Photo Gallery
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt women’s cross country team defended its title at the Belmont-Vanderbilt Opener once again as the 2010 season opened Friday evening at Percy Warner Park. The women placed first out of 12 teams while the men finished fourth out of 10 teams.
The Commodore women claimed the title after finishing with 27 points, 32 points better than second place Western Kentucky. Alabama and Lipscomb placed third and fourth, while Belmont and Middle Tennessee State tied for fifth place. MTSU took first place in the men’s race with 49 points, while just four points separated the next three places. Tennessee scored 73 points, while Lipscomb and Vanderbilt were just behind with 76 and 77 points, respectively.
The women placed five runners in the top eight while the top seven finished in the top 28 out of 120 total runners.
“The whole focus is the team and running as a group,” Head coach Steve Keith said on the women. “Ideally we were going to run with two groups of three and try to keep them together through the first two miles.”
Jordan White paced the Commodores, clocking in at 14:20, while Alexa Rogers was just five seconds behind. The next three Vanderbilt runners finished one second apart from one another, with Allie Scalf leading the trio with a time of 14:34. Kara Slavoski finished in 14:35 and Liz Anderson clocked a 14:36 in the 4K race.
“In their first collegiate race, Kara and Liz ran great,” Keith said.
Sophomore Kristen Findley finished in 16th place with a time of 14:54 while newcomer Lena Josifi clocked in at 15:21. Freshman Kellie Kuzmuk and Megan Yohe gave strong performances with times of 15:25 and 15:34, respectively.
In the men’s race, junior Jenner Kizer began the 2010 season in the same fashion as 2009, as the top Vanderbilt finisher. He finished the 5K race in 15:51, good for sixth place. Sophomore Chris Baker finished just six seconds behind in eighth place. Alan Ash, David McAdams and Conrad Goeringer finished in 20th, 21st and 22nd place, with just two seconds separating the trio.
“The goal today, with four newcomers and a healthier group, was to redefine our squad and get that core developed,” Keith said about the men’s team. “The top five or six absolutely did that today and this is probably the best that I’ve seen them open up in the five years I’ve been here.”
Freshman Alex Snowdon clocked in at 16:21 while Bram Chisholm and Billy Malmed were close behind, with times of 16:29 and 16:38.
The Vanderbilt runners will have two weeks off from competition before hosting the Commodore Classic at Percy Warner Park on Sept. 18.
