The Lady Roadrunners took to the cross country course again on Saturday to compete against some stiff competition at the Berry Invitational. The field contained NCAA Division I schools such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. The Roadrunners finished 11th out of 24 teams even with a few runners on the sidelines.
Sophomore Kay Vradenburgh had an outstanding race lopping off 50 seconds from her best 6K time finishing in 24:53. Not too far behind Kay, standout freshman Rachel Ward finished her first ever 6K race in a great time of 25:18.
Steady junior Hayley Hight knocked 43 seconds off her best 6K time finishing in 26:47. Trailing only six seconds behind Hight was freshman Sabrina Young. Scoring for the first time this year while finishing fifth for the Lady Roadrunners was Alex Gass, who looks stronger and stronger each race. Morgan King finished sixth while bravely battling a nagging injury.
Coach Dean Thompson said, "We had some who ran their best races of the year today and some who struggled a bit. The good news is that we learned a lot today about ourselves. I'm really proud of Kay and Rachel for their outstanding efforts today in particular. They're really close to where we want to be. While Hayley and Sabrina did not run their best today, the blame goes to me. We are in the process of honing our race week preparation, and I learned some valuable things in today's race specifically as it relates to our preparation. It's just a matter of time before Alex is racing with everyone else. Mo (Morgan King) is doing all she can do to get better and will be ready for our conference meet in a few weeks.
The Lady Roadrunners will be back in action next weekend, Oct. 20, at the Sand Shark Invitational in Hardeeville, S.C.