Blaase shines in season debut as UT women take 4th; Long leads men to 14th-place finish
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Senior
Chelsea Blaase
took first place in her season debut to lead the Tennessee women's
cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the Greater Louisville
Classic on Saturday at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park. Freshman
Zach Long led the UT men to a 14th-place showing in a loaded 8K race.
With rain and temperatures in the 50s, Blaase and the UT women enjoyed a
strong showing in their 5K race. Blaase took first in 17:04.50, beating
second-place Maggie Drazba (West Virginia) by 32 seconds. Blaase now
has three first-place showings in her career and has finished in the top
10 in each of her last 11 races. She has also placed in the top three
in eight of her last 11.
"It was a great opener for Chelsea," Tennessee Director of Track & Field and Cross Country
Beth Alford-Sullivan
said. "She felt great, looked great and was very in control. It was her
first race since last June at the USA trials and we're very proud of
how she looked. She was very smooth and it is exciting to see where the
season will take her."
Freshman
Jessica Rizor
posted an impressive seventh-place showing at 18:03.87. She was UT's
top finisher in each of the previous two races and continued to make
strides on Saturday.
"Jessica ran a great race, very competitive all the way through and
caught some people down the home stretch," Sullivan said. "She did a
tremendous job as a true freshman, stepped up, got her nose into it and
ran really well."
Freshman
Julia Rizor finished 23rd overall with a time of 18:26.38 in her collegiate debut. Freshmen
Emma Reed (41st, 18:44.15) and
Abby McCulla (51st, 18:55.34) rounded out the Vols' top five.
The Tennessee men started the day in the cold with temperatures barely
reaching 50 degrees for their 9:30 a.m. start. UT exceeded expectations
with a top-15 showing in a strong field of 24 teams.
"We were really pleased with the outcome on the guys' side," Sullivan
said. "We weren't perfect today, but we were much much better than we
were two weeks ago. We had a nice pack."
Long led UT for the first time, clocking in at 25:06.83 for 78th. Seniors
Kyle Walter (91st, 25:17.22) and
Jack Little (98th, 25:20.64) were not far behind. Freshmen
Wesley Robinson (120th, 25:38.47) and
Brad Swiney (130th, 25:47.90) rounded out UT's top five.
"
Zach Long pulled off the no. 1 spot today, but right with him were the two seniors,
Jack Little and
Kyle Walter, for a very nice pack of three right there," Sullivan said. "Then you had
Brad Swiney coming on and
Wesley Robinson
coming on with some really competitive running out of these guys in
just their second five-mile race. I was very impressed with them. We
were happy with the top-15 finish and the energy was very positive."
Both teams will return to E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park on Oct. 17 for
Pre-Nationals. That will be Tennessee's final meet before the SEC Cross
Country Championships on Oct. 30 in College Station, Texas.
