Golden Tigers Race to the Finish Line

November 5, 2011

CLINTON, Ms - The Brenau University cross country team raced in the women's Southern States Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday morning, at Choctaw Trails.

The Golden Tigers placed 7th out of 12 teams, posting an average time of 21:14.04 in the 5k race. The SSAC Championships proved to be an intense race. The team results are listed below.

2011 Women's SSAC Championships Results

Shorter University (1:36:30)

Lee University (1:39:22)

Southern Wesleyan University (1:41:30)

Loyola University (1:43:05)

Spring Hill College (1:46:27)

Emmanuel College (1:46:00)

Brenau University (1:46:10)

William Carey University (1:54:47)

Belhaven University (1:52:09)

Truett-McConnell College (1:55:58)

University of Mobile (1:56:20)

Auburn University at Montgomery (2:01:13)

Among those teams, 83 runners competed in the Championships.

Freshman Brittany Aikens (Braselton, GA) finished 7th, with a time of 19:22.73. Sarah Saenz (Lawrenceville, GA) and Ana Lopera (Flowery Branch, GA) were pushing one another in the midst of the competition surrounding them; Saenz placed 30th with a time of 21:07.29, and Lopera was right on her heels finishing 32nd with a time of 21:10.70.

Ashley Tolland (Cumming, GA) placed in the top 40, finishing 39th by a time of 21:39.82. After setting her own pace, Anahi Ruiz (Gainesville, GA) placed 55th with a time of 22:49.64 and newcomer Nelli Martirosyan (Yerevan, Armenia) took 67th by finishing in 24:01.41.

The top 10 finishers make up the 2011 SSAC All-Conference Team and are listed below.

2011 Women's SSAC All-Conference Team

Maggie Opelt - Lee University (18:09.53)

Sarah Massey - Shorter University (18:14.17)

Shea Spicher - Shorter University (18:26.86)

Kate Imwalle - Spring Hill College (18:52.14)

Erica Segars - Southern Wesleyan University (19:09.23)

Cayce Bryan - Lee University (19:22.02)

Brittany Aikens - Brenau University (19:22.73)

Vanessa Righeimer - Loyola University (19:37.05)

Katie Rutledge - Shorter University (19:39.93)

Ashley Matthews - Lee University (20:00.91)

The individual qualifiers, who will participate in the NAIA National Championships held in Vancouver, Washington on November 19th, will be announced by the NAIA on Monday, November 7th.