University of Tennessee Athletics
UT Harriers 4th at NCAA South Regional
November 10, 2007 | Women's Cross Country
Complete Results??|??Photo Gallery
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The University of Tennessee landed three women on the all-region team, but that feat was not enough to enable the 25th-ranked Lady Vols to continue their string of five consecutive top-three finishes at the NCAA South Regional Cross Country Meet.?? Instead, the Big Orange women had to settle for fourth place Saturday morning at the University of Florida Golf Course and will have to wait and see whether they are extended an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship meet.
Third-ranked Florida State, which was spurred by a second straight regional victory from Susan Kuijken (20:19.01), took the team trophy with a score of 40 points.?? Georgia, ranked 29th this week, and Florida, which received votes in the most recent USTFCCCA poll, finished second and third, respectively, with 75 and 94 points. Tennessee, which had beaten both UGA and UF at the SEC Championships two weekends ago, had to card a fourth-place score of 152 after its fifth runner was disqualified.?? UT, however, would have been relegated to fourth even without the DQ ruling handed down against junior Rolanda Bell (Laurelton, N.Y.).
The top two finishing teams (FSU and UGA) earned automatic bids to the NCAA Championships, and the NCAA Selection Committee will announce 13 additional at-large team bids as well as individual at-large invitations on Monday.?? The NCAA meet will be held Nov. 19 in Terre Haute, Ind., and Tennessee, 104-19 in 2007, is seeking to qualify for the competition for the sixth straight season under head coach J.J. Clark and for the 11th time in program history.
"It was not an exceptional showing that we had," UT Head Coach J.J. Clark said.?? "As a group, it was very hard for us to rebound when we found out Jackie Areson (Delray Beach, Fla.) would not be able to run for us due to a foot injury. We might have an outside shot of getting to nationals.?? We'll just have to wait and see."
The Big Orange did get All-South Region performances from three Lady Vols who finished in the top 25 out of a field of 145 runners. For the second year in a row, junior Katie Van Horn was UT's top regional finisher.?? After taking eighth in 2006, the product of Glendora, N.J., came in 11th this time around in 21 minutes, 6.48 seconds to earn her second all-region nod.?? She ran third for Tennessee for most of the race before kicking hard over the final 500 meters to pick off a number of runners, including her two teammates.
"Katie Van Horn has performed consistently for us every time out, the entire year," Clark said.?? "I am not surprised at all about how consistent she has been, and I am very appreciative of her efforts."
Junior Sarah Bowman (Warrenton, Va.) managed to collect her second straight all-region certificate, crossing the line in 14th place in a time of 21:12.19 to improve upon her 23rd-place regional effort of a year ago. That award probably came with little consolation for Bowman, though, as she ran with FSU's Kuijken and the lead pack for much of the race before losing touch with the eventual victor and coming back to the rest of the pack over the last mile. The runner-up team placement for Bowman also marked the initial occasion this season she had not hit the finish chute first for the Orange and White.
In her second race as a Lady Vol, junior transfer Heidi Magill-Dahl (Orem, Utah) posted a season-best readout of 21:15.36 to also grab All-South kudos.?? It marked the third career all-region award for the former BYU standout, who earned All-Mountain Region acclaim with the Cougars in 2004 and 2005.?? Magill-Dahl also got out well and joined Bowman and Kuijken in the lead group, but she too fell back slightly as the race wore on.
Freshman Brittany Sheffey (Bellport, N.Y.) was Tennessee's fourth finisher, covering the 6,000-meter distance in 22:01.87 to place 33rd.?? Sheffey was the Lady Vols' fourth runner in each of the past three races and counted toward the team score in all of her six outings this season.
Bell would have been the Big Orange's fifth scoring runner in 34th place with a time around 22:03, but she and Georgia freshman Kylie Foley got tangled up as they converged on the finish line.?? When Bell stumbled, she stretched out her arms to catch her balance.?? As she did so, she and Foley again made contact.?? Even though the incidental contact would not have altered Georgia's team score, and the Bulldogs filed no complaint, meet officials chose to disqualify Bell anyway and upheld a UT protest, much to the disappointment of Clark.
As a result, Tennessee's next finisher, sophomore Phoebe Wright (Signal Mountain, Tenn.), became the fifth counting runner.?? So, instead of Bell's output in the 30s, UT had to count Wright's 80th-place (with displacements) score and finish of 23:57.91.?? That meant a final tally of 152 rather than a more competitive sum of 104.
"I think Rolanda Bell gave her best result of the season," Clark said.?? "To come back and find out that she was disqualified was extremely disappointing. Between that, getting Heidi onboard late this season and losing Jackie to the injury, it's just been that kind of year for us, but we will continue to persevere as a group."
TEAM FINISHES: 1. Florida State 40, 2. Georgia 75, 3. Florida 94, 4. Tennessee 152, 5. UAB 184, 6. Georgia State 210, 7. Georgia Tech 237, 8. Samford 249, 9. Chattanooga 258, 10. Belmont 272, 11. Vanderbilt 295, 12. Florida International 322, 12. Mississippi State 322, 14. Auburn 324, 15. Central Florida 347, 16. Tennessee Tech 398, 17. Florida Atlantic 399, 18. South Florida 445, 19. Austin Peay 512, 20. Mississippi 513.
UT FINISHERS: 11. Katie Van Horn, 21:06.48; 14. Sarah Bowman, 21:12.19; 16. Heidi Magill-Dahl, 21:15.36; 33. Brittany Sheffey, 22:01.87; 87. Phoebe Wright, 23:57.91; DQ - Rolanda Bell.??
