In a change of plans, the Southern Miss cross country competed at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Blazer Classic 6K race on Friday, Oct.11. Originally, Southern Miss was scheduled to race in the Seminole Classic in Tallahassee, Florida, but Hurricane Michael forced the team to compete elsewhere.
A total of 19 teams were in attendance. Some of the notable teams competing at the event include No. 25 Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, South Alabama, Memphis and conference opponent UAB.
Leading the team was junior Sandra Szpott, who finished in 12th place overall with a time of 21:37.
Sophomore Kate Mattox and junior Monika Gebarzewska ran 22:08 and 22:09 to finish 17th and 18th place overall, respectively. Closing out the top five for the team include junior Regen McGee, who finished 20th with a time of 22:12 and freshman Lina May, who followed by finishing 25th and running a time of 22:21.
Juniors Theresa Harto and Victoria Hoppe finished in 42nd and 54th place overall, running times 22:49 and 23:13, respectively. Senior Madeleine Bell ran 23:20 and junior Chloe Tedder ran 23:23 to finish in 59th and 61st place, respectively.
Overall, the Golden Eagles finished in third place with 83 points. Winning the meet was Tennessee with 45 points. Alabama finished in second place with 61 points.
Notably, Southern Miss beat Florida State who finished in fourth place with 137 points and UAB, who finished in seventh place with 223 points.
Southern Miss, last season’s conference runner-ups, will race in the C-USA championships on Oct. 27 in Boca Raton, Florida with the hope of winning its first ever conference championship.
