Angela Homan Wins Auburn Invite; Tiger Men and Women's Team's Place Second
Women's Results l Men's Results
October 11, 2004
Angela Homan |
AUBURN - Auburn's Angela Homan took home the women's individual title in the annual Auburn Invitational Monday morning at the Indian Pines Golf Course. The Tiger's men and women each earned second place overall as a team in the 8K and 5K, respectively.
Homan captured her third individual title this season as she defeated Lauren Blankenship from Samford by more than 30 seconds. She finished the 5K in 17:26.67. Kylee Swanson had her best finish of the season, running to a fourth place finish with a time of 18:19.05. Jenny Lake from South Carolina came in third.
"I have been extremely blessed so far this year with my running," Homan noted. "I know that as the year goes on, the competition is going to get tougher, and I am going to have to run harder to keep coming out in front. Right now, I'm running very well, and I push myself by imagining someone is right behind me and pushing me to finish
strong."
As a team, the women came in second with 48 points. Samford won the team title with 36 points, Mississippi State placed third (60 pts.) and Alabama (94 pts.) was fourth. Also finishing for the Tigers was Alicia Torres (17th, 19:02.50), Dawn Morgan (19th, 19:14.60), Becca Bell (37th, 19:50.73), Alayne Thompson (38th, 19:53.78), Megan Karl (48th, 20:04.34), Danielle Keplinger (t-66th, 20:26.65) and Tatum Wilbanks (t-71st, 20:32.67).
"God has blessed us with some fantastic young runners this year," Samford head coach Glenn McWaters commented. "Our team did a great job today as a whole. We are a very young team this year with only one senior, and I'm excited about the way they are coming along. This was a big meet for us."
On the men's side, the Tigers came in second (34 pts.) behind Portland. LSU placed third (47 pts.) and Alabama came in fourth (109 pts.). Chris Walsh led the way for Auburn as he had his best finish this season, placing fourth in the 8K with a time of 25:02.75. Andrew Heath finished ninth with a time of 25:24.91.
"After seeing the short results, I thought we were going to be in for a real dog fight," Portland head coach Rob Conner said. "We prepared for this race for quite a while, and I'm proud of our guys for coming out in first place. Coach Fox has done a fantastic job of grouping together so many good young players on that Auburn team, and it was an enjoyable experience to be part of this meet. It was a challenge for our guys and we will come away from this feeling as though we have accomplished something."
The men's individual winner was Josphat Waweru from Jacksonville State who ran the race in 24:35.49. Alex Korir of Alabama was second and John Moore from Portland came in third.
"I have been training for this race for the past couple of months,"Waweru said. "I did what I could to get into shape to run this race. At the last part of the race, I began my move toward the front of the pack. On the fifth mile, I pushed myself to go beyond everyone else, and I was able to finish first."
Also running for Auburn men's team was David Riddle (18th, 25:52.96), Patrick Philbin (24th, 26:02.91), Matt Tillman (30th, 26:19.16), Jordan Davis (32nd, 26:21.26), Chris George (34th, 26:22.04), Joey Smajd (t-39th, 26:29.79), Clay Askew (t-52nd), Patrick Mouser (t-63rd), Brian Shirk (t-74th), Kevin Pawlik (t-106th) and Tyler Smith (t-114th).
For a complete results listing please visit http://www.cfpitiming.com and/or http://www.auburntigers.com
The Tigers prepare for the SEC Championships on Oct. 30 in Fayetteville, Ark., where Homan will run to defend her title from the 2003 season.