FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? University of Kentucky?s Allison Grace crossed the finish line seventh at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Ark, earning first team All-SEC honors. Both the men and women recorded eighth place finishes at the conference meet. The Lady Vols captured their second consecutive SEC Championship title with 55 points and host Arkansas took home the men?s conference title with 23 points.
?This is Ali?s third good performance in the SEC meet, last year dropping out with 800 meters to go is as good as running the whole race,? UK head coach Don Weber said. ?I was really pleased that she ran as well as she did. That is a great accomplishment for her.?
Grace improved by three places from her 2002 performance at the SEC Championships, where she finished 10th, earning second team All-SEC honors and helping Kentucky to a second-place conference finish. Grace has led the Wildcats throughout the season with strong finishes at Stanford and Penn State.
?I knew this year I was determined. I wanted to finish in the top-ten, stay with the pack and do the best that I could,? UK junior Allison Grace said.
Finishing second for the Wildcats was sophomore Emily King recording a time of 22:16.41 for 30th place. Senior Beth Heimann finished in a time of 22:54.08, with freshman Lavera Morris finishing strong in a time of 22:55.30. Georganne Way completed the five for Kentucky in a time of 23:24.35. Freshmen Andrea Brown and Meg Brunick also competed for the Cats, gaining valuable experience for the upcoming races.
?Lavera really stepped up for us today,? said Weber, ?We were only 30 points out from fourth place and she really ran a good race.?
For the men, John Richardson crossed the finish line first for the Cats in 31st place with a time of 24:44.57. Richardson improved his time by over two minutes from last year?s SEC Championship race.
?I felt pretty good. I had a relaxed attitude and was focusing more on myself than other runners in the field. I did a lot better than I expected to do because of my relaxed approach.? UK runner John Richardson said. ?Before the race we had a pre-race huddle and I told the team that we don?t need to be afraid, we needed to lay it all on the line. We are a young team and we will be back next year.?
Freshman Andre Silva was second for Kentucky finishing in a time of 25:00.82 for 44th place. Junior Chris Millisor recorded a time of 25:32.13 and Andrew Thompson crossed the finish line in a time of 26:02.25. Freshman Chris Long rounded out the Kentucky five finishing in a time of 26:22.72. Other runners crossing the finish line were Jonathan Thomas and freshman Stephan Smith.
?We are very young and John (Richardson) over the course of the season has been trying to understand the 5 mile race and himself.? Weber said. ?Andre ran a respectable race and Chris (Millisor) came through for us today. We need a lot more time for training, getting stronger and learning how to race 5 miles and compete for 25 minutes rather than just running for 25 minutes.?
The Razorbacks’, undefeated junior, Josphat Boit claimed the men?s individual conference title, with Arkansas? Shawn Forrest claiming silver and Georgia?s Simon Ngata claiming the bronze at the 2004 SEC Championships.
Finishing over ten seconds in front of the second place finisher, Auburn?s Angela Homan took the SEC individual gold. Georgia?s Jill Steffens claimed silver and Alison Zeinner-Rush from Arkansas took bronze.
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