The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Cross Country Set To Open 2011 Season Thursday
8/31/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
Aug. 31, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB cross country team begins the 2011 slate at the UAB-Samford Dual on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT. The 4K race will be held at Veterans Park in Hoover, Ala.
The 2010 squad ran to a fourth-place finish at the Conference USA Championships and finished in sixth place out of 25 teams at the NCAA South Regional Meet.
The Blazers have added to their already strong foundation from 2010 and the 2011 edition is looking to take even greater strides with six returning runners, including senior track All-American honorable mention and C-USA All-Academic Team selection Rhiannon Johns.
Johns impacted last season by claiming first place at the Southeast Cross Country Showdown 5K to lead the Blazers to the overall meet title, qualifying for the preliminary round of the NCAA Outdoor Track Championships and taking the 10,000-meter title at the C-USA Outdoor Track Championships for the second consecutive year.
Also leading the pack for UAB are seniors Clara Cid, Lauren Fayen, Colleen Standridge, Lucy Taylor and Kristina Vaughn. The Blazers feature four newcomers in junior transfer Sarah Hudak, redshirt freshman Kara Woods and true freshmen Kristie Leybourne and Jenna Wesley.
The UAB-Samford Dual is just the beginning of the Blazers’ rigorous 2011 schedule that stretches just eight weeks until the C-USA Championships in Houston, Texas, and 11 weeks before the NCAA Championships held in Terre Haute, Ind.
Players Mentioned
