Tennessee Men 4th, Women 7th at SEC XC Meet

Friday, October 26

Auburn, AL

University of Tennessee

SEC Championships

KNOXVILLE, TN - 2018.10.26 - Tennessee vs. Alabama

Photo by: Maury Neipris/Tennessee Athletics

October 26, 2018 | Track & Field

Men's 8K Results Women's 6K Results

AUBURN, Ala. — The Tennessee men placed fourth and the women finished seventh Friday at the SEC Cross Country Championships at Indian Pines Golf Course.

The Tennessee men improved one spot from their finish last year to place fourth with 132 points, the team's best finish since 2010. Tennessee ended just 10 points shy of the top three; Ole Miss won the meet (36), followed by Arkansas (44) and Kentucky (122).

Sophomore Alex Crigger led the way in the 8K, crossing the finish line in 15th in 23:22.82 to lead the Vols in scoring for the first time in his career. Karl Thiessen finished just behind him in 16th (23:30.68) to earn SEC All-Freshman Team honors.

A trio of seniors finished 3-4-5 for the Vols. Zach Long was the third Vol to grab a top-25 finish, placing 22nd (23:38.40). Andre Hillsman was 30th (23:50.39), and Wesley Robinson finished 50th (24:10.47).

In the women's 6K, the Lady Vols climbed three places from last year, placing seventh in the team standings (197). Arkansas won the meet with 24 points.

Katie Thronson earned second-team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman Team honors with her 14th-place result in 19:51.23. Junior Megan Murray also scored a top-20 finish, placing 18th (20:00.21).

Senior Peighton Meske was 39th (20:32.63), freshman Sydney Seymour took 52nd (20:41.84) and Alaina Riordan placed 85th (21:13.42).

UP NEXT: The Vols will compete at the NCAA South Regional Championships on Nov. 9 in Tallahassee, Florida. The top two teams will automatically advance to the NCAA final site championships at Wisconsin.

QUOTES
Beth Alford-Sullivan, Director of Track & Field/Cross Country
(On the women's meet)
"The women really competed well. WE've been in this zone. We kind of knew we'd be between sixth and ninth. Finishing seventh is a huge break forward. We finally started to put some momentum into the distance side of this program. You can see that playing out now. Katie and Megan were a great tandem all season long. I was very proud of both those races. This was a fast, flat, flying course. For Megan and Katie to finish where they did in the top 20, that was the goal, the have two in the top 20. Katie making all-freshman team and all that jazz was great.

"I'm really excited about two weeks from now at the regional. We're going to make another breakthrough in our performances there as a team and as individuals. This women's team are ahead of progress. It's been a few years of really lean cross country results, but they've fought to finish in the upper half of the conference for the first time in a long time. I'll take that progress moving forward.

(On the men's meet)
"It was a great experience. In a short amount of time -- four short years -- we started at the bottom of the barrel with this program and today we had a shot to finish in the top three. We gave it a great run. I'm proud of our young guys, the next round of guys to come up. Alex Crigger got 15th place, Karl Thiessen in 16th place and Zach Long having an off day but finished in the top 25. It was outstanding. Our seniors have had this program on their backs. To put the young guys in the position to play for the top three in the conference championship, that's outstanding. The top two teams are legit in our sport of cross country. Our guys are battling toward those top finishes. My heart goes out to our seniors. Zach Long has been an amazing program for the entire program for four years. Zach Long. Andre Hillsman. Wes Robinson. Brad Swiney. They've meant the world to me and this program. I can't be more proud of them.

SEC Cross Country Championships
Men's 8K
Tennessee Results
15. Alex Crigger, 23:22.82
16. Karl Thiessen, 23:30.68
22. Zach Long, 23:38.40
30. Andre Hillsman, 23:50.39
50. Wesley Robinson, 24:10.47
—
51. Gashaw Duhamel, 24:12.56
54. Georde Goodwyn, 24:16.33
68. Max Barbour, 24:38.18
78. Brad Swiney, 25:01.71
90. Nick Brey, 25:28.15

Team Standings
1. Ole Miss, 36
2. Arkansas, 44
3. Kentucky, 122
4. Tennessee, 132
5. Missouri, 135
6. Alabama, 166
7. Texas A&M, 170
8. Florida, 184
9. Georgia, 190
10. Auburn, 266
11. Vanderbilt, 291
12. LSU, 335

Women's 6K
Tennessee Results
14. Katie Thronson, 19:51.23
18. Megan Murray, 20:00.21
39. Peighton Meske, 20:32.63
52. Sydney Seymour, 20:41.84
85. Alaina Riordan, 21:13.42
—
100. Abigail Smith, 21:36.89
112. Jessica Rizor, 21:45.21
115. Sarah McCabe, 21:48.18

Team Standings
1. Arkansas, 24
2. Florida, 69
3. Ole Miss, 116
4. Georgia, 144
5. Missouri, 149
6. Vanderbilt, 181
7. Tennessee, 197
8. Kentucky 242*
9. Alabama, 242*
10. Texas A&M, 260
11. LSU, 275
12. Mississippi State, 277
13. South Carolina, 333
14. Auburn, 239

* - Kentucky placed higher after tiebreaker