Curry Posts Third-Best Time in Cross Country 5K History
10/2/2010 1:44:00 AM | Track & Field/XC
NOTE: After reviewing the top-10 Georgia Southern cross country times after the release was posted, a 2002 SoCon Championship time was inadvertently omitted from the records list. The release has been corrected to reflect the new record standing.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Sophomore Sara Curry recorded the third-best time in Georgia Southern cross country history, slashing more than 30 seconds off her previous best time in the 5,000K at the Charlotte Invitational. The Lawrenceville, Ga., native ran a time of 18:54.9 to help the Eagles to a 14th-place team finish Friday afternoon. Georgia Southern competed against 24 other teams representing the Atlantic Coast, Atlantic 10, Southeastern and Southern Conferences.
Curry, who opened the 2010 season at the Gamecock Invitational with the 10th-best time in Eagle history, was the top Georgia Southern finisher at Charlotte. Curry's time was one second less than the previous number-three mark by Lindsay Nye. Her time currently ranks in the SoCon's top 25 for this year.
"I was really excited for Sara Curry and the way she led our team today," said Eagles Cross Country Coach Natalie Smith. "She has really started to get in a groove and I believe this is just the beginning for her. Our runners two through five ran within 20 seconds of each other -- that's what we are looking for - and now they have to close in and move within a minute of Sara."
Four other Eagles had their best times of the 2010 season and one other personal best time was set. Sophomore Heather McAllister (Cartersville, Ga.) was the next Georgia Southern individual across the finish line at 20:25.9. Kassi Lee, the senior from Elberton, Ga., ran her best time of the 2010 season with a 20:30.4 and junior Brittani Martin (Alpharetta, Ga.) took 30 seconds off her season-best time with a 20:37.1.
Freshman Amanda Ventre (Acworth, Ga.) made the most improvement on her previous personal best with a 20:48.9, more than 46 seconds lower than her finish at the Clemson Invitational two weeks ago. Azura Robillard (Apopka, Fla.), who missed the last race, set her 2010 season-best time with a 20:59.2. Sophomore Talisha Rice (Stockbridge, Ga.) narrowly missed posting her best time of 2010 with a 22:14.6.
"I was not pleased with how we ran the second mile of the race today, however, we came back on the third mile and really competed," Smith said. "The ladies have to get more focused and keep their competition level high in the middle of the race. We had some significant time drops today and it will be interesting next week to see our performances when we run a 6,000K instead of a 5,000K.
The Eagles compete next on Saturday, October 9th at Augusta State's Jaguar Invitational. The race begins at 8 a.m. Updates on Georgia Southern cross country may be found online at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com, facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSScores.
