Saturday, October 27
Boca Raton, Fla.
TBA
Southern Miss
vs
C-USA Championships
Cross Country Places Fourth at C-USA Championships
10/27/2018 10:07:00 AM | Track & Field/Cross Country
The Golden Eagles finished in fourth place with 91 points at the C-USA Championship.
BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Golden Eagles cross country squad finished fourth in the Conference USA Championships hosted by FAU Saturday morning.
Southern Miss fought to the finish at Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park. All of the Golden Eagles finished top-50 with five runners finishing top-25.
Three runners made All-Conference, with Kate Mattox and Emma Kate Holdbrooks on Third Team and Sandra Szpott on Second Team.
Sandra Szpott led the pack early and stayed up front through the first 4000m. Kate Mattox, Emma Kate Holdbrooks, Monika Gebarzewska and Lina May weren't far behind.
Quotable – Jon Stuart
I was really proud of the way the girls competed. We ran with a lot of heart. The other teams in our conference are very good and they had to be very good to top us today. I can't say enough about the effort that they gave. I'm very proud of this group.
Quotable – Aaron Kindt
Today the girls ran a really gutsy race, they ran really hard. We kind of got a showcase today of who the best teams across the country are. UTEP and Middle Tennessee are really deep teams and ran excellent races putting it all together at the end. I think we were a little disappointed at where we're at but it's no fault of the effort they put in today. Could we have run a little bit better here and there and won some individual battles? Of course, but the girls ran really hard, gutsy races but came up just short at the end, and that happens. I'm really proud of this group and the future is bright. We've got another chance in two weeks to do something we haven't done here before and be in the top 10 in the region and these girls are going to do great things on the track come this spring.
Sandra [Szpott] ran a great, gutsy race for her first Conference Championship. She went for it and ran with the lead pack for the first 4k. She started to wear down toward the end but she fought and finished in the top-10. Sandra's only going to get better this year and throughout her career here. She's got a lot of potential and she cares a lot about her craft. Kate Mattox, she got off to a slower start this fall but she's been gutsy and been grinding out during races. She knew what was on the line today and she continued to claw and fight her way back to where she wants to be. Emma Kate Holdbrooks, coming off of flu-like symptoms the last meet, she had a nice bounce back race. She's not quite where she wanted to be but she ran really well. Being All-Conference after being outside of the top-40 last year shows just how much she's improved. Lina May, our freshman, just outside of being All-Conference; being top-25 as a freshman is spectacular. I'm very excited about Lina May's future. We have a lot to build off of this meet, there's definitely disappointment not being top-two but a lot of exciting things that happened today that I hope don't get lost in that final result.
Quotable – Lina May
I felt really good today, I felt really strong. I tried to stay with Monika and Regen most of the way, they kept me pushing myself. It was a PR for me - the fastest I've ever ran a 5k. I'm definitely really happy with how I did today. It gives me a lot of confidence [to only be three spots away from All-Conference], of course I wish I could've passed those few more people and made it on All-Conference but it's really good motivation for track season. At the beginning it was really packed together because it narrowed really fast, but once everyone spread out I ended up in a big gap and all I could really see was Monika on the entire second loop. The hill wasn't that bad, the hill was actually pretty nice. It was steep but we got up it fast and then we had the last 300m to the finish line. I know everyone's going to keep working and getting stronger and if anything it's just going to push us harder to come back next year and win.
The Finishes
10. Sandra Szpott 17:25.83
15. Kate Mattox 17:47.65
20. Emma Kate Holdbrooks 18:01.20
22. Monika Gebarzewska 18:04.68
24. Lina May 18:12.70
37. Regen McGee 18:39.56
43. Victoria Hoppe 18:45.75
49. Theresa Harto 18:57.36
67. Madeleine Bell 19:34.05
The Facts
Southern Miss fought to the finish at Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park. All of the Golden Eagles finished top-50 with five runners finishing top-25.
Three runners made All-Conference, with Kate Mattox and Emma Kate Holdbrooks on Third Team and Sandra Szpott on Second Team.
Sandra Szpott led the pack early and stayed up front through the first 4000m. Kate Mattox, Emma Kate Holdbrooks, Monika Gebarzewska and Lina May weren't far behind.
Quotable – Jon Stuart
I was really proud of the way the girls competed. We ran with a lot of heart. The other teams in our conference are very good and they had to be very good to top us today. I can't say enough about the effort that they gave. I'm very proud of this group.
Quotable – Aaron Kindt
Today the girls ran a really gutsy race, they ran really hard. We kind of got a showcase today of who the best teams across the country are. UTEP and Middle Tennessee are really deep teams and ran excellent races putting it all together at the end. I think we were a little disappointed at where we're at but it's no fault of the effort they put in today. Could we have run a little bit better here and there and won some individual battles? Of course, but the girls ran really hard, gutsy races but came up just short at the end, and that happens. I'm really proud of this group and the future is bright. We've got another chance in two weeks to do something we haven't done here before and be in the top 10 in the region and these girls are going to do great things on the track come this spring.
Sandra [Szpott] ran a great, gutsy race for her first Conference Championship. She went for it and ran with the lead pack for the first 4k. She started to wear down toward the end but she fought and finished in the top-10. Sandra's only going to get better this year and throughout her career here. She's got a lot of potential and she cares a lot about her craft. Kate Mattox, she got off to a slower start this fall but she's been gutsy and been grinding out during races. She knew what was on the line today and she continued to claw and fight her way back to where she wants to be. Emma Kate Holdbrooks, coming off of flu-like symptoms the last meet, she had a nice bounce back race. She's not quite where she wanted to be but she ran really well. Being All-Conference after being outside of the top-40 last year shows just how much she's improved. Lina May, our freshman, just outside of being All-Conference; being top-25 as a freshman is spectacular. I'm very excited about Lina May's future. We have a lot to build off of this meet, there's definitely disappointment not being top-two but a lot of exciting things that happened today that I hope don't get lost in that final result.
Quotable – Lina May
I felt really good today, I felt really strong. I tried to stay with Monika and Regen most of the way, they kept me pushing myself. It was a PR for me - the fastest I've ever ran a 5k. I'm definitely really happy with how I did today. It gives me a lot of confidence [to only be three spots away from All-Conference], of course I wish I could've passed those few more people and made it on All-Conference but it's really good motivation for track season. At the beginning it was really packed together because it narrowed really fast, but once everyone spread out I ended up in a big gap and all I could really see was Monika on the entire second loop. The hill wasn't that bad, the hill was actually pretty nice. It was steep but we got up it fast and then we had the last 300m to the finish line. I know everyone's going to keep working and getting stronger and if anything it's just going to push us harder to come back next year and win.
The Finishes
10. Sandra Szpott 17:25.83
15. Kate Mattox 17:47.65
20. Emma Kate Holdbrooks 18:01.20
22. Monika Gebarzewska 18:04.68
24. Lina May 18:12.70
37. Regen McGee 18:39.56
43. Victoria Hoppe 18:45.75
49. Theresa Harto 18:57.36
67. Madeleine Bell 19:34.05
The Facts
- Weather: Sunny and warm (upper 70s)
- Second-lowest score at the Conference Championships for Southern Miss
- Five finished in the top-25
- 3 named All-Conference
- 103 runners, 13 teams
- Course: Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park
- Freshman Lina May has a new PB and finished 6th out of the freshmen
- Lina May and Sandra Szpott both ran to new PBs
Players Mentioned
Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Mid-Distance / Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Distance
/ Track & Field/Cross Country
Distance
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