SAA Women’s Cross Country Report – Oct. 7, 2024

10/7/2024 3:54:05 PM

CANTON, Ga.  – With less than a month until the Southern Athletic Association Championship in Memphis, all seven conference squads were in action across three meets. Centre and Rhodes got a preview of the national championship venue, running at the Rose Hulman hosted D3 Pre-Nationals. The Colonels were 21st in the team standings while the Lynx took 34th of the 44 teams at the race. Berry posted a convincing team win at the Belhaven Invitational, boasting five finishers in the top-20. Oglethorpe finished third, Millsaps sixth and Hendrix ran as individuals. Sewanee won its own Mountain Goat Invitational with a near-perfect score of 22.  
Around the SAA:
Athlete of the Week:
Anna Ayers | Berry | Junior | Carrollton, Ga. – paced her fellow Vikings for a third-place individual finish with a time of 22:43.08 at the Belhaven Invitational. Ayers obliterated her previous personal record, which she set only two weeks about, by 30 seconds, finishing just behind runners from Mississippi State and Mississippi College. She led the team to a first place finish at the Belhaven Invitational.
Notable Performances:
  • Elena Gentry (Rhodes) – Rhodes’ top finisher, placed 77th (22:57) out of 389 finishers over 6K at the DIII PreNational Meet in Terre Haute. Elena was the 7th fastest freshman in the meet.
  • Cara Taylor (Centre) - had a fantastic race this past weekend at the D3 Pre-Nationals meet held at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, IN.  Cara toured the challenging 6K course in 23:19 which was her second fastest 6K in her collegiate career and just seconds off of her personal best.  Cara finished near the top 25% of the field that was stacked with some of the best runners in all of NCAA Division III. 
  • Elizabeth Cook (Sewanee) - claimed first place in the women’s 5k at the Sewanee Invitational on Saturday. Cook crossed the finish line with a time of 21:15.5, outpacing 31 competitors and leading the women’s team to the top of the leaderboard.
2024 Women’s Cross Country Report Archive:
Sept. 3 – Sophie Bouldin (Centre)
Sept. 9 – Erin Haugh (Centre)
Sept. 16 – Riley Michaud (Oglethorpe)
Sept. 30 – Anna Ayers (Berry)