The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
UAH Invitational
UAB Cross Country Team Places Fifth At UAH Invitational
9/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Track & Field
Sept. 14, 2002
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ----- The UAB cross country team, running with only five competitors, placed fifth of 21 teams here Saturday at the UAH Invitational.
The 6K race was run at Sharon Johnston Park, which will be the site of the 2002 NCAA Division II South Region Championships later this fall.
The Blazers finished with 192 points, trailing only team champion Kennesaw State (Ga.) (18), UAH (77), Carson-Newman (103) and Berry College (176). Vanderbilt (195) and Clayton State (195) placed just behind UAB.
UAB head coach Ray Stanfield was pleased with the performance of his team, which was missing one of its regular runners - Donna Pucke - due to a family emergency.
"This was a great effort by our team in a meet that had a quality field," said Stanfield, in his first season at the helm of the UAB program. "We didn't have our full squad today, but the girls did a great job and I thought we made a big jump from last week. Amanda Kara went out and ran with the leaders for most of the race and our other runners performed well, too."
Kara finished ninth in the individual standings, crossing the finish line with a time of 23:25.0. Kennesaw State's Marjo Venalainen (21:51.8) led a 1-4 individual finish for her team to claim individual honors. Kennesaw State entered the meet ranked No. 6 nationally among NCAA Division II teams.
Other UAB finishers were: Heather Burdette, 34th, 25:01.3; Emily Scarbrough, 38th, 25:15.1; Rina Kara, 54th, 26:14.3; and Stephanie Raymer, 57th, 26:29.5.
The next action for UAB will come next Friday, Sept. 20 (5:00 p.m.) at the Crimson Classic in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
