BATON ROUGE, La.—Auburn juniors Silas Kipngetich and Abbey Zane were the Tigers' top finishers on the men's and women's side, respectively, at the Southeastern Conference Championships Friday at the University Club Golf Course near the LSU campus.
Racing in his third SEC cross country championship, Kipngetich ran a consistent race, crossing the 8k race in a season-best time of 25:07.2. The Eldoret, Kenya product was one of the five Auburn scorers that all clocked their fastest times of the season.
"The men's team had a few injuries this year that set us back but we still had some bright spots especially from true freshman Ryan Kinnane," Auburn cross country coach David Barnett said. "On the women's side we had a nice pack and I thought we had solid performances but unfortunately we were missing a low stick and that is needed to compete in this league. Abbey and Presley really competed hard today and fought all the way to the end.
Kinnane worked his way up during the race to finish in 48th place crossing in 25:14.4. Kinnane, who was one of Auburn's consistent performers all season was the 10th best freshman finisher in the race. Seniors Tommy McDonough and Jack Rogers finished in 60th (25:29.3) and 72nd (25:42.9), respectively, while freshman Dustyn Lewis rounded out the Tigers' scoring, finishing 95th (26:45.1).
Auburn's top finisher in all four meets this season, Zane posted her outing at the SEC meet of her career, grabbing 53rd place with a time of 21:33.1 over 6k. Zane was one of six runners on the women's side to have their best conference showing of their careers.
After Zane, just 15 places separated the Tigers second through sixth finishers. Senior Presley Weems was 64th (21:55.3), while sophomore Hannah Dyal (21:53.6) and senior Faith Bett (21:55.3) crossed the finish line in 68th and 70th place, respectively. Senior Louisa McPherson capped Auburn's scoring with a 78th place (22:02.8) performance.
"I'm proud of the effort of the majority of our runners and for how they successfully navigated the season avoiding Covid for the most part," Barnett said. "We should be at full strength during the upcoming indoor track season and plan to continue to score important points for the track team and contribute to strong team finishes at SECs and NCAAs championships."
Arkansas swept the men's and women's team titles. The Tiger men and women each finished 12th respectively in the team standings.
2020 SEC CHAMPIONSHIPS
University Club
Baton Rouge, La.
Men's Team Results (6k)
12. Auburn, 282 pts
Men's Individual Results (8k)
38. Silas Kipngetich, 25:07.2
48. Ryan Kinnane, 25:14.4
60. Tommy McDonough, 25:29.3
72. Jack Rogers, 25:42.9
95. Dustyn Lewis, 26:45.1
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104. Jackson Thomas, 27:26.2
106. Evan Rogers, 27:37.4
DNF—Carson Bedics
Women's Team Results (6k)
12. Auburn, 288 pts
Women's Individual Results
53. Abbey Zane, 21:33.1
64. Presley Weems, 21:55.3
68. Hannah Dyal, 21:53.6
70. Faith Bett, 21:55.3
78. Louisa McPherson, 22:02.8
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79. Hannah Tarwater, 22:03.9
88. Samantha Rogers, 22:12.8
96. Sara Pacer, 22:21.3
102. GiGi Maddox, 22:27.9