Lady Roadrunners Mix It Up With Division 1 Competition And Hold Their Own

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

Women's Cross Country | 9/5/2021 8:20:00 AM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Lady Roadrunners kicked off the season by challenging a bunch of division 1 schools in Nashville at the Belmont Opener. They held their own and finished a respectable 3^rd overall of the 7 teams on the course. And that was without All-American Kathryn Vradenburgh, who was not able to compete due to illness. Nearly every Roadrunner ran a first-race-of-the-season personal record.

RECAP
No stranger to finishing first for the team, sophomore Riley Ford led the team by finishing in 19:58, which was good for 13^th place overall. Despite the placing, the time was better than her opening race last year in a contest that she won.

Senior Alex Gass finished her race strong by moving up from 3^rd to 2^nd on the team in the last 100 meters. Her time of 20:45 was great considering she was sick and is still recovering from an illness that had her sidelined for a full week. And it was her fastest initial race of the year for Dalton State.

Freshman Giselle Dominguez ran an excellent race moving up during the race to finish just behind Alex at 20:47. It was nearly a lifetime personal record, and a great way to begin her career as a Roadrunner.

Close behind Giselle was junior Kate Roberts finishing in 20:52 closing fast on everyone ahead of her over the last mile. It was Kate's first time under 21:00 in her initial race of any season, and only about 30 seconds short of her lifetime personal best.

Rounding out the scoring for the Roadrunners was senior Kay Vradenburgh who finished in 20:56. The Lady Roadrunners had never had more than two runners under 21 minutes in the Belmont Opener. This year, they had five.

Finishing as the sixth runner, as was her custom for most races last year, was sophomore Kayla Mattox. Her 21:36 finishing time was more than two minutes better than any year prior. She is poised to have a great season.

The seventh finisher for the Lady Roadrunners was freshman Ella Coley who crossed the line in 22:02. Once again, it was far and away better than any first race she had ever run, and only a few seconds from her personal best.

Finishing eighth and ninth, both with a time of 23:41, were juniors Haley Tillery and Rebecca Poe. Tillery is still trying to get over a terrible sickness, and Poe has a minor injury that has hampered her for a few weeks. Both are on the rise and will run much faster as the season progresses.

COMMENTS FROM COACH
Notes from Coach Dean Thompson:
It was a solid first race. I hated that Kathryn didn't get to run, but there has been a stomach bug making it's rounds, and it looks like it bit her hard on the day of the race. She'll be back to her fast-running self very soon!

Riley ran a solid first race. Coming from Michigan, she has struggled with the summer heat, but is becoming more acclimated by the day. She has had some seriously good workouts, so I expect that her times will drop precipitously very soon. Nonetheless, it was a great effort.

Alex has missed some training time recently and is still struggling from the after effects of her illness. But she showed up with that hard-nosed racing attitude today anyway. I love to watch Alex run when she is dialed in and running hard. She's so calm and quiet – until the gun goes off. Then she turns into a fierce competitor. We will see Alex running much faster in the near future as she gets back into the swing of things.

It was great to have Giselle run well and score for the team in her first ever collegiate meet. She has trained harder than ever and there will be an even bigger payoff soon. Giselle is only scratching the surface of her potential. She is going to be a key part of Roadrunner success going forward.

Kate was another one who was very sick a few days ago, but she ran a very solid race. Had the race been a 6K, she may have finished second on the team as hard as she charged over the last mile. I predict that Kate will run well under 20 minutes this season.

Kay didn't have her best race today, but like great teammates do, she gave it all she had even when she was struggling. She ran her fastest time for this course in her third attempt, so that's not bad, but there is much more there. You'll see some big things from Kay this season, for sure.

I was really happy to see Kayla run so well in her first race of the season. She came so far as a freshman last year, and you always wonder how someone is going follow that up. Well, Kayla is off to a great start to continue her improvement trajectory.

Our second freshman, Ella, ran a solid race today. She was just a few seconds from her personal best, but that was with a ton of mileage in her legs. She has run way more miles over the past few weeks than she has ever run. She is going to get much faster as her body adapts to the training load. I'm really proud of her effort today.

Like so much of our team, Haley is coming off a sickness that is still lingering a little. She has lost a lot of training along the way, but she is on the mend and will improve rapidly. She is a mid-19s runner at heart, and she will get back there by the end of the year.

Becca has had an injury that forced her to take some significant time off recently. Today's course was not ideal for her particular injury. As a result, she struggled with the middle mile today, but she really drove home hard over the last mile. It was good see that determination even though she wasn't able to run her fastest time. The things she is doing to get back to normal will pay off over the next few weeks and she will be back to her speedy self.

Overall, despite all the adversity arising from a lot of sickness and a couple of injuries, it was a much better effort than we have had in the first race of the last few years. Our training schedule doesn't focus on being our best for the first meet of the season. We're intent on being ready in November when we defend our Conference Championship. By that time, the adversity will be a distant memory and these ladies will be running fast.

Today was a really good effort, and that's what I look for in these early season meets. If we can make a habit of competing hard, when the time comes for us to be our best, we'll be right on schedule.

UP NEXT
The Lady Roadrunners will be back in action on Friday, September 10 in Gainesville at the North Georgia Invitational.

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