Roadrunners Win Berry Invitational

By: Dean Thompson, DS Women's Cross Country/Track Coach

Women's Cross Country | 10/17/2021 8:44:00 AM

MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Lady Roadrunners traveled down the road to Berry College to take part in the Berry Invitational in Rome, Ga. The Lady Birds outpaced the host Berry College Vikings who finished as the runner-up. The winning score was 45 points to Berry's 79-point second place finish. There were a total of 14 teams and nearly 150 runners in the race.

RECAP
If the team win was not enough, junior Kathryn Vradenburgh out-kicked her competition over the last 200 meters to take the individual win in the 6K Race. It was her third win of the year. She was followed by a fourth-place finish from sophomore Riley Jo Ford. It was Riley's best race of the year.

Finishing just seconds apart in 16^th, 18^th, and 20^th overall were freshman Giselle Dominguez, senior Alex Gass, and senior Kay Vradenburgh. junior Kate Roberts finished less than 30 seconds further back in 26^th place overall.

Freshman Ella Coley finished 49^th overall in her first ever 6K race. She was followed by sophomore Kayla Mattox (68^th), junior Haley Tillery (71^st), and junior Rebecca Poe (82^nd).

QUOTES FROM COACH
Comments From Coach Dean Thompson:
"It was a great effort today from the ladies. It was good to see them come back and run well after the last race. I did a poor job of getting them ready for that last race, so it was important to run well today to prove to themselves that they're still a great team. We had the best week of training we've had all year and this race was a good ending to the week."

"Kathryn is so solid right now. Even when she has been less than perfect, she has run well, and today was no different. She beat some really good runners out there today. I'm really proud of her tenacity, especially over the last kilometer."

"It was great to see Riley back to her old self. She looked super strong the entire way and finished really well. She is getting back to her best at just the right time of the season."

"How about Giselle? She has been just what we hoped she would be when she joined us this year. Finishing third on the team today was a great finish. This was her first 6K race and she a ran hard all the way to the finish line. She gets a little better every race. It will be interesting to see what she can do at the conference championship in less than a month."

"Alex has had setback after setback this year, but things are coming together for her. We still have time for her to get back to 5K Conference Championship form she showed in the spring. And I know Alex will work as hard as she can to get there."

"Kay had a good race despite not feeling her best today. It was a 6K PR for her by over 20 seconds. She always gives it all she has."

"Kate was closing fast over the second half of the race. If the race had been a kilometer longer, she may have caught her three teammates in front of her. It was Kate's strongest race of the year, again, just in time to go into the homestretch of the season."

"Ella has been in the top seven every race this year, and every race has been faster than she had ever run prior to this year. She has been a very consistent athlete this season. She was another one who wasn't at her best today but found a way to have a successful race anyway. Great determination!"

"Kayla, Haley, and Becca are all fighting something right now. It would have been easy for them to have given up the fight today, but they did a good job of pushing through adversity."

"Overall, I'm really pleased with this entire week. We had some big goals at the beginning of the year, and we looked like we were miles away last race, but we could see today that the lofty goals of this year are still possible. I'm a firm believer that good things happen when you put your head down and just keep working no matter the circumstances. That's what this group brings with them to practice every day. I believe the best of the year is yet to come, and not a moment too soon!"

UP NEXT
The Lady Roadrunners will be back in action next week, October 23, in Bluffton, South Carolina at the NAIA Southern States Challenge.

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