Nov. 15, 2008
Men’s Results | Women’s Results | Season Stats
MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Rita Jorgensen led the Commodores to a seventh overall team finish (200 points) at the NCAA South Regional Championship Saturday at Lambert Acres Golf Club in Maryville, Tenn. The sophomore runner submitted a top-20 performance at 21:24.32, a No.14 overall time.
“Rita had a great race and missed qualifying for NCAA Nationals by just three places and a few seconds,” Steve Keith, VU head coach, said. “We wanted to be close, in position to qualify and she ran as well as I could have hoped.”
The women’s team trimmed 95 points off their 2007 score (295), and placed four spots higher than last season. The men’s team also ascended past its 2007 finish (14th) for a No.13 team score (401) on Saturday.
“The women finishing in seventh and just two points out of sixth was what we were looking for at this regional,” said Keith. “With freshmen and sophomores leading the way we can really build off of this performance.”
Thomas Davis and Rob Whiting guided the men, crossing the timeline at 33:50.17 (65th place) and 33:51.31 (66th place). Davis shaved almost 30 seconds off his 2007 finish.
Redshirt freshman Kristabel Doebel-Hickok also impressed on Saturday. Doebel-Hickok turned in a top-30 time at 22:00.02, good enough for the No. 27 overall mark. The women’s squad saw five runners cross the timeline within the top-60 runners.
“Kristabel had a nice effort as well and just missed All-South Region honors (top 25) with her 27th place finish,” Keith remarked. “She beat a number of women who finished ahead of her at SEC so this was a nice plus.”
Florida State won the women’s South Regional with a 41 point team score. Florida (64), Tennessee (116), Georgia (154) and Auburn (156) rounded out the top five. Alabama won the men’s title (49), while Auburn (59), Florida State (66), Florida (133) and Tennessee (156) followed.
“It was good to finish a place better than we did at SEC and ahead of Alabama for the women and ahead of Ole Miss for the men,” Keith noted.
The Seminoles and Crimson Tide repeated as champions, having won the 2007 South Regional.
