Nov. 2, 2008
STARKVILLE, Miss. – The University of Kentucky cross country teams will compete this weekend at the Southeastern Conference Championships held at Mississippi State’s Cross Country Course in Starkville, Miss., on Monday. The women’s 6K race begins at 11:00 a.m. ET followed by the men’s 8K race an hour later.
Last season, the UK women placed fifth while the men’s team finished ninth at the championships hosted by the Blue and White at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Entering the week, the Wildcat women rank fifth in the Southeast region heading into Monday’s Championships, their highest regional ranking of the regular season. UK is led by several veterans from last year’s team that finished fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional.
UK senior Jessica Ortman crossed the finish line first for Kentucky in each of the team’s four regular-season meets this season. Ortman’s season-best 6K time of 21:09, last time out at Penn State, ranks 12th in the SEC this season. Senior Andrea Halasek and sophomore Katherine Peterson have scored in each of the UK’s meets this season and own the conference’s 17th and 19th 6K times this year. Additionally, senior Jenna Ortman, who owns the 14th best time in the league, and junior Lindsay Petri have turned in top-five team finishes on three occasions.
On the men’s side, Kentucky ranks tenth in the Southeast region, the highest position of the season for the Wildcats. The young men’s squad has been led this season by sophomore Adam Henken who earned All-SEC freshman team honors at last year’s Championships.
Henken led UK across the finish line for the third consecutive time this season last time out at Penn State. Henken placed sixth overall and ran the course measuring just over five miles two minutes faster than he ran the trail last season, clocking in at 25:26. The Catharpin, Va., native has finished among the top three UK runners dating back six meets to last season.
Junior Jeremy Zagorski has scored in each meet for the Wildcats this season while freshman Colin Heenan has continued his impressive rookie campaign finishing in the UK top five three times, including a first-place finish on the team in the season opener.
Click UKathletics.com for a full recap and results from the SEC Championships.
