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[su_spacer size=”40″] COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — The Bulldog cross country teams managed fifth-place and 10th-place finishes at the Southeastern Conference Cross Country Championships on the Texas A&M campus in College Station on Friday.
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The Georgia men finished fifth in the 8k race with 142 points behind Arkansas (25), Texas A&M (98), Ole Miss (122) and Kentucky (129) as the teams took off in rain and temperatures in the low 70s. This marked a six-place improvement from the Bulldogs’ 2014 finish.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Lady Bulldogs, who were picked to finish 12th in the preseason poll, left with a 10th-place finish (267 points) on their 6k route that looped around the Dale Watts Cross Country Course. Arkansas (38) completed the sweep while Mississippi State (95), Vanderbilt (112), Alabama (143) and Ole Miss (147) made up the top five finishers.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “I am proud of the effort from both teams,” said Bulldog distance coach Patrick Cunniff. “I am especially pleased with the way Zack Sims and Victoria Coppage battled and finished the race strong. Bryan Kamau continued to emerge and make another step in his development in just his second year. I thought the women worked hard together and did everything they could in their race today. Now, we have to continue to prepare for Regionals which will be coming up quickly.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] While Alabama’s Antibahs Kosgei edged Arkansas’ Christian Heymsfield by a second for the individual crown on the men’s side, Georgia had three finishers in the top 25. The Bulldogs moved from 10th place at the 2k mark to sixth at the 5,607-meter split before topping Missouri (146) for fifth place.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Senior Zack Sims earned All-SEC Second Team honors by recording his top finish in four tries at the league meet. Sims ran a 23:52.0 and was 12th overall, which represented a 22-place improvement compared to Georgia’s top finisher in 2014. This was Sims’ second time scoring at the SEC meet (2013).
[su_spacer size=”40″] Sophomore Bryan Kamau, who garnered All-SEC Freshman honors last year with a 41st-place finish, took 19th on Friday after clocking a 24:12.2. Georgia’s top finisher at the 2014 meet, senior Steven Spevacek, was third for the Bulldogs for the second consecutive week with a 21st-place finish (24:15.7).
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia’s fourth scorer at the meet was junior Sid Vaughn, who like Sims redshirted the 2014 season. Vaughn crossed the line in 35th place with a 24:39.8 to score for the second time in his career during his third trip to the SEC Championships. Junior Jimmy Hicks was the fifth and final runner to score for Georgia after taking 58th (25:00.3). Hicks is a first-time scorer at the SEC meet for the Bulldogs.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The gun for the women’s race fired approximately an hour after the men’s competition and the Lady Bulldogs’ matched their 10th-place finish from 2014. Arkansas’ Dominique Scott won her third SEC individual title in a row by 17 seconds.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Lady Bulldog junior Victoria Coppage made her season debut and topped her teammates with an SEC career-best 48th-place finish. Coppage, who was recovering this season from an injury, ran a 21:19.2 to score for the second consecutive season.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Junior Lauren Kelly was Georgia’s second finisher at last year’s league meet and the Suwanee, Ga., native repeated that feat on Friday. Kelly was 56th after registering a 21:29.3. Sophomore Morgan Green scored for the first time at the SEC Championships and was third overall for Georgia with a 59th-place finish. Her time of 21:33.4 bettered her finish in 2014 by nearly 20 spots.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Similar to Green, sophomore Allie Castro also improved her 2014 placing by almost 20 spots and was the Lady Bulldogs’ fourth finisher. Castro surged into scoring position late in the race after clocking a 21:36.0 for 64th place.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia’s sole senior scorer was Brooke Koblitz. With only two meets under her belt in 2015, including a top team finish at Boston’s Coast-To-Coast Battle in Beantown, Koblitz scored for the first time during her third SEC Championships with a 66th-place finish (21:39.6).
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs return to action at the NCAA South Regionals in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 13. Both teams or individuals on UGA’s men and women’s squads will be aiming to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Louisville, Ky., on Nov. 21.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Full results and recaps from all Bulldog meets and news regarding Georgia’s teams are located at georgiadogs.com. Updates on Georgia’s track and field and cross country teams can be found on Twitter/Instagram at @UGATrack.
[su_spacer size=”40″] GEORGIADOGS.COM – University of Georgia Official Athletic Site – Cross Country
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