Nov. 13, 2008

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Alabama women's cross country team will compete at the NCAA South Region Championships hosted by The University of Tennessee this weekend on Nov. 15. The teams will compete at the Lambert Acres Golf Club in Maryville, Tenn.

Alabama will look to finish in the top 10 for the first time since 2000 when the squad finished 10th. The Tide continues to be led by freshmen standouts Sara Vaughn and Kelsey Johnson. The duo has been 1-2 for the squad at every meet this season.

Vaughn and Johnson will look to finish in the top 25 in order to garner All-South Region honors. They would be the first duo to both garner the awards in the same year since the Tide had three athletes named to the team in 1999 (Dawn Boggs, Ashley LaBudde and Amanda Grout).

The Crimson Tide has had at least one runner named an All-South Region performer in the past three years. Haley Moody earned the honor in 2007 while Julia Hicks collected the award in both 2005 and 2006. Hicks was the last person to garner back-to-back honors since Ashley LaBudde earned three straight All-Region honors from 1998-00.

The women have won three NCAA South Region titles in their team history with the last coming in 1986. Sue Jackson was the last Alabama female athlete to win the individual region title with her victory coming in 1980.

The women's 6,000 meter race is schedule to begin at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Ranked Teams

Of the 15 teams in the meet, two squads are ranked nationally in the top 30. Florida State leads the way with a No. 3 ranking and is followed by Florida at No. 15. Tennessee is also receiving votes.

In the NCAA South Region polls, Florida State is ranked No. 1. The SEC holds the next four spots with Florida at No. 2 followed by host Tennessee at No. 3. Georgia and Auburn round out the top five at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively. Alabama enters the meet ranked No. 7.

2008 Honors and Awards

Sara Vaughn has been named both SEC Athlete of the Week and SEC Freshman of the Week twice this season. Fellow freshman Kelsey Johnson was also named SEC Freshman of the Week this season.

The duo was also named to the All-SEC Freshman Team and the All-SEC Second Team for their efforts two weeks ago at the SEC Championship.

2007 NCAA South Region Championship

Alabama did not tally a team finish last season because they did have enough runners finish the race. Haley Moody was named All-South Region in 2007.

Haley Moody led the Tide with an 18th place finish, covering the 6,000 meter course in 21:24.19. She was followed by teammates Farrah Stewart and Rue Chitwood in 107th and 112th, respectively. Jordan Harper rounded out the squad's finishers with a 122nd place finish.

Qualifying for the NCAA Championships

If the Crimson Tide can finish in the top two, they will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships the very next week on Monday, Nov. 24. There are also 13 at-large bids given out by the NCAA that the team can hope for if they fail to finish as one of the top two teams. The meet will be hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind.

If an individual finishes as one of the top four individuals not on a qualifying team, they also get an automatic bid the NCAA Championships if they finish in the top 25. The NCAA will select two at-large individuals as well.

Alabama did not qualify for the NCAA Championships in 2007 and had no individuals qualify either. The last individual qualifier was Julia Hicks in 2006.

Quotes from Cross Country Coach Randy Hasenbank

On if the team can finish in the top ten this weekend:

"We've got a couple girls that have been running well up front. The middle of our lineup will need to close the gap in order to make a difference in the meet."

On if Sara Vaughn and Kelsey Johnson can qualify for nationals:

"They have a legitimate shot at nationals, usually you need to be in the top 8-12 to pick up the individual spots that qualify for nationals and they are capable of running up there in this meet."

On the team goals this weekend:

"They'll compete hard, they've done well with that all year. We want to match our region ranking, which is number seven right now. There is no margin for error for many teams and we're no exception."

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