Oct. 13, 2007

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. --- The Samford men's and women's cross country teams had a successful day Saturday at Chile Pepper Festival hosted by the No. 9 University of Arkansas. The men captured 17th place out of 32 teams while the women also captured 17th place out of 41 teams.

Senior Lauren Blankenship finished third place behind two familiar faces in All-Americans Sally Kipyego and Irene Kimaiyo of Texas Tech. The two runners slipped by Blankenship the last time she ran in the national championship. With a time of 20:48.6, she was the only American to finish the 6k race in the top three Saturday.

Also running for the Samford women were freshman Hillary Neal, sophomores Lauren Pilcher and Jessica Van Ausdall and senior Britney Almaguer. Neal finished second for the Bulldogs, running a time of 23:15.0, followed by Pilcher (23:16.2), Almaguer (23:38.5) and Van Ausdall (25:02.9).

Coming in first for the Bulldog men was senior Drew Anderwald. Anderwald finished the 10k race with a time of 31:58.4, earning a 50th place finish. Rounding out the top five for the Samford men were junior Bo Brawner, sophomore Cameron Bean and Chas Keithan and freshman Scott Cope. Brawner ran a time fo 32.43.4 with a close pack of the final three behind him (Bean - 33.08.7, Keithan - 33:27.6, Cope - 33:32.8).

"Today was a really good competition against some really tough teams," Samford head coach Glenn McWaters said. "We did beat Alabama and LSU on the women's side. It was an exciting weekend and a good race overall and I think it will help us get prepared for the conference championships."

Samford has the week off to prepare for the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Championships on Oct. 27. The Bulldogs will host the event at Spain Park in Hoover, Ala.

Results

Samford Women 17th/41 23:12.2 (avg time)
Lauren Blankenship 3rd 20:48.6
Hillary Neal 97th 23:15.0
Lauren Pilcher 99th 23:16.2
Britney Almaguer 125th 23:38.5
Jessica Van Ausdall 187th 25:02.9

Samford Men 17th/32 32:58.1 (avg time)
Drew Anderwald 50th 31:58.4
Bo Brawnder 84th 32:43.4
Cameron Bean 101st 33:08.7
Chas Keithan 112th 33:27.6
Scott Cope 120th 33:32.8
Blaise Carie 145th 34:31.6
Patrick Ollinger 147th 34:38.9