Thiessen Leads Vols To Fourth-Place Finish At SEC Championships

Friday, October 30

Birmingham, AL

11:00 AM

University of Tennessee

SEC Cross Country Championships

Thiessen Leads Vols To Fourth-Place Finish At SEC Championships

October 30, 2020 | Track & Field

Results

BATON ROUGE, La. — The Tennessee men's cross country team tabbed a fourth-place team finish at the SEC Championships Friday morning, scoring 123 points as the Vols' top-five runners all finished in a 53-second window. Junior Karl Thiessen led the Big Orange contingent with his best career performance at the conference meet, placing 11th with a time of 24:14.6 over the 8,042-meter course.

"This is the third time I've been top-five with our men at the SEC Championships, and I am very proud of this effort," head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "We really struggled last fall, but reloaded and trained up for this year. I am really proud of the guys moving the dial, and I really believe that this crew can sustain that and keep us in the battle every single year moving forward."

RACE RECAP: Tennessee had raced in a tight pack all season long, and that trend continued Friday as the first five Vols crossed the finish line in a 52.4-second span. UT placed fourth overall with 123 points, good for the program's third top-five finish at the conference meet in the past four years.

Arkansas took home the team title with 35 points, followed by Ole Miss (59) and Georgia (121) to round out the top three. The Vols topped SEC East rival Kentucky by 10 points, as the Wildcats finished fifth at the meet with 133.

"We knew that it was a Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee battle, and we changed momentum on them late in the race," Sullivan said. "We were down to Kentucky at the 5k split by 13 points, and 3k later we beat them by 10. Georgia came on strong in that last 1,000 meters and just nipped us. We had a great effort out there and the Vols ran tight. The split between the front and back end was really tight, and that's what the strength of this team is. People just kept giving their all for Tennessee today, and I couldn't be more proud."

Thiessen hung with the lead pack throughout the majority of the race, as the Abingdon, Virginia, native crossed the finish line 11th on Friday. It was his best career finish at the SEC meet and the best by a Tennessee Vol since 2017, when Zach Long placed 10th overall.

"This was Karl's best SEC performance, from track races to cross country races. He is closing the gap on trying to get a top finish and he got a lot closer today. The lead pack was screaming fast and he was able to really stay composed. All-SEC is very hard to do with the talent up front that takes up a lot of those spots. I am confident that in 12 months when we're back toeing the line at this SEC Championship, he will be a top 5, 6 or 7 first-team All-SEC runner for sure."

Senior captain Alex Crigger was the second Vol across the line, earning his third-straight top-25 SEC finish with a 19th-place result Friday morning. The Johnson City native clocked in at 24:34.5 on Friday.

"Alex is a gamer," Sullivan said. "This kid shows up when it matters. He didn't have the best summer training and was sick for part of the summer and came back from it pretty strong. He is so reliable, so consistent and he chased down a couple more on the home stretch with the wicked kick that he's got. Very proud of Alex."

Georde Goodwyn notched his first scoring performance at the SEC Championships, placing 30th overall as the Vols' No. 3 runner in Baton Rouge. The senior from Knoxville turned in a time of 24:50.1.

"This is Georde's best racing he's had in his career, and again it's the element of this team and the element of just sticking with it," Sullivan said. "The toughness to stick with training and competing over five miles and training at 70 to 80 miles a week for months on end. It's finally paying off for him. He gave us a great season, he gave us a great run today and made us that much better. I was really proud of Georde and proud of what he contributed to this team. He has been that guy that's lived a bit in the shadows and all of a sudden rose to the occasion this season, and we were proud of that."

Tennessee's fourth, fifth and sixth finishers were all making their SEC Cross Country Championship debuts on Friday. Junior transfer Thomas Gardiner completed the race in 24:57.6 for 32nd place, while redshirt freshman Riley Buchholz was close behind with a time of 25:07.0 for 37th. UT's sixth man, true freshman Mike Griffin, clocked in at 25:10.7 for 44th place in his first conference meet.

"Thomas is very talented. He transferred to us from Xavier and has taken a year under our training belt. He's a very coachable, wonderful young man. For Thomas, Riley and Mike, the goal was to move through the race and not get out in that screaming fast front pace. They were able to continue to move through the race and be valuable for us. That was the goal. We really needed that four, five, six to be valuable, and they showed it today. Within the last 200-300 meters, all of them were catching guys down the stretch and bringing it home."

ALL-SEC HONORS: Tennessee junior Karl Thiessen took home Second Team All-SEC honors with his performance on Friday, becoming the first Vol to do so since Zach Long in 2017. Additionally, redshirt freshman Riley Buchholz earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team as the sixth rookie across the finish line in Baton Rouge.

POSTSEASON DEBUTS: Five of the 10 Vols that suited up were making their first appearance at the SEC Cross Country Championships: Thomas Gardiner (32nd, 24:57.6), Riley Buchholz (37th, 25:07.0), Mike Griffin (44th, 25:10.7), Eli Nahom (79th, 25:51.1) and Canaan Anderson (83rd, 26:02.4).

FOR THE LADY VOLS: Due to multiple student-athletes sidelined due to COVID-19 contact tracing, the Tennessee women's cross country team withdrew from Friday's competition. The Tennessee men dedicated their performance at the conference meet to their Lady Vol counterparts.

"This was definitely one of the hardest weeks on me as a coach," Sullivan said. "We had a special moment at the starting line for our final team cheer. The men did it for the Lady Vols. Normally we say, 'Tennessee on three,' but the guys decided to dial up 'Lady Vols on three.' It showed the quality of our program right now and their commitment to the whole program, not just the men's team. In a world where young people need to be able to have the presence of mind that others matter and giving back to others, this men's team showed that today for the whole program and for the women's team that was left behind this weekend. I couldn't be prouder of that."

UP NEXT: This marks the end of the 2020 fall campaign for the Tennessee cross country program. Last month, the NCAA DI Board of Directors approved the proposed plan to move fall championships in 2020 to the spring of 2021. The NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships will be held on Monday, March 15, 2021, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

A full breakdown of Friday's results can be viewed below. For the most up-to-date information on Tennessee track & field and cross country, follow @Vol_Track on Twitter.

Team Results
1. Arkansas - 35 points
2. Ole Miss - 59 points
3. Georgia - 121 points
4. Tennessee - 123 points
5. Kentucky - 133 points
6. Missouri - 151 points
7. Florida - 200 points
8. LSU - 208 points
9. Texas A&M - 228 points
10. Alabama - 244 points
11. Vanderbilt - 248 points
12. Auburn - 282 points

Individual Results
11. Karl Thiessen - 24:14.6
19. Alex Crigger - 24:34.5
30. Georde Goodwyn - 24:50.1
32. Thomas Gardiner - 24:57.6
37. Riley Buchholz - 25:07.0
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44. Mike Griffin - 25:10.7
65. Max Barbour - 25:35.9
68. Conner Hawkins - 25:41.3
79. Eli Nahom - 25:51.1
83. Canaan Anderson - 26:02.4