Mississippi State
SEC Championships
State Men Take Fifth, Women Take Seventh At SEC Championship
October 27, 2007 | Cross Country
LEXINGTON, KY. ? The Mississippi State men's cross country finished fifth at the SEC Cross Country Championship Saturday in Lexington, Ky. while the women finished seventh. State's men captured 138 points while the women gathered 209 points.
MState's men were led by senior Ashenafi Arega, who placed 20th, with a time of 24:59.32. Junior Robert Scribner followed in 22nd place, running 25:03.26. Freshman Ben Blankenship finished with a time of 25:05.77, taking 3rd place. Junior Jonathan Rono placed 31st with a time of 25:22.42. Sophomore Michael Chapa (25:48.31) and senior Pad Judd (25:48.81) finished 48th and 49th, respectively.
"I believe the guys ran hard today, said Men's Head Coach Steve Dudley. I also know the guys have worked extremely hard through the summer and fall. Coach Franks has done a tremendous job getting our guys in very good shape. We have a top four SEC team when it comes to fitness and effort; unfortunately I coached them to a 5th place finish. The guys are doing their job, and I just have to start doing the same job the Arkansas's, Florida's, Alabama's, and the Tennessee's coach do."
Arkansas captured the men's team title with 36 total points. Florida came in second with a total of 74 points while Alabama tallied 82 points to come in third place. Tennessee racked up 102 points to take fourth place with Auburn taking sixth with 158 total points. Georgia came in seventh with 177 points and LSU took eighth place tallying 180 points. Kentucky (214) and Vanderbilt (302) finished ninth and tenth, respectively.
On the women's side, freshman Sarah Hammes led the Lady Bulldogs, finishing 19th with a time of 21:32.50. Freshman Simone Domingue finished 24th, running 21:39.56. Senior Annie Falor placed 48th with a time of 22:26.38.
"The season has been a tough one for us, but the girls ran tough, said Women's Head Coach Al Schmidt. Our goal before the season was to be in the top half of the conference, but injuries hampered us all year. Having Sarah (Hammes) and Simone (Domingue) on the all‐freshman team was fantastic. They have a bright future in the SEC and obviously so will we. I am very pleased with Annie (Falor) and Lizzie's (Grube) SEC Cross Country career. They have been part of a great team tradition of being in the top half."
Arkansas also captured the women's team title with a total of 39 points. Tennessee came in second with 84 points while Georgia took third place with 85 points. Florida tallied 96 points to take fourth place with Kentucky taking fifth with 104 points. Coming in sixth was Auburn with 171 points while Vanderbilt scored 217 points, taking eighth place. LSU came in ninth with 259 points while Alabama took tenth with 275 points. South Carolina (290) and Ole Miss (352) finished 11th and 12th, respectively.
MSU also placed three freshmen on the SEC All‐Freshman team. Blakenship represented the men's squad while Hammes and Domingue represented the women's squad. The awards were based on their finish in the competition.
