Nov. 10, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- Samford two-time All-American Lauren Blankenship qualified for her third trip to the NCAA Championships as she finished third Saturday in the NCAA South Regional race hosted by the University of Florida. Blankenship led her team to an eighth place finish while running the 6K course in 20:45.23.

Coming in second for the Bulldogs was freshman Jillian Klassen taking 59th place with a time of 23:00.16. Following closely behind Klassen were senior Britney Almaguer (23:09.48), sophomore Lauren Pilcher (23:16.88) and red-shirt freshman Ina Ables (23:28.29). OVC Freshman of the Year Hillary Neal ran the course in 24:.09.93.

The Bulldog women finished just ahead of future Southern Conference opponent and SoCon champions Chattanooga while also coming in before several SEC schools (Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Auburn, Ole Miss) and Ohio Valley Conference opponents Tennessee Tech and Austin Peay.

Senior Drew Anderwald led the Samford men to a fifteenth place finish, running the 10k course in 33:11.11. Following closely behind was red-shirt junior Bo Brawner in 33:20.04. Coming in third for the Bulldog men was sophomore Chas Keithan (34:37.21) followed by Patrick Ollinger (34:45.69), Scott Cope (34:49.81), Cameron Bean (35:00.16) and Blaise Carie (35:01.35).

The NCAA Championships will be held Nov. 17 at the Wabash Valley Family Sports Center in Terre Haute, Ind. The host for the championships is Indiana State University.