OXFORD, Mississippi – Junior Ryan Kinnane finished in 11th place to lead the Auburn men's cross country team to a seventh-place finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships Friday at the Ole Miss Golf Course to post its best team finish in eight years.
"Ryan has been so good for us all year, I think today he had a gut check today and had a really good run," Auburn cross country coach Aaron Kindt said. "Louis (O'Loughlin) had a fantastic run and passed a ton of guys to get to where he finished at 25th. He was ready for a big run and continues to get better each day. I think we still have another gear left on the men's side. I'm really proud of them and how far they've come along.
Named the SEC Men's Cross Country Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier in the week, Kinnane finished the 8k course in 23:27.02 to earn second team All-SEC honors. It was the best finish by an Auburn male at the SEC championships since 2014 when Ty McCormack was runner up and Kane Grimster was ninth.
"I had a really strong finish and am happy with what we did. It wasn't a perfect race, but the team did everything we could do to prepare for this," Kinnane said. "We're moving up, we're still hungry and know there's a lot of room for improvement. We're definitely building with a young, strong core and are excited for the future."
Sophomore Louis O'Loughlin was the Tigers' second finisher, crossing in 24:04.23, followed by Carson Bedics (47th, 24:41.00), Dustyn Lewis (65th, 25:13.93) and freshman Joseph Perry (69th, 25:8.99) to round out the AU scoring. As one of the top seven finishing freshmen in the race, Perry earned freshman All-SEC honors.
On the women's side, junior Samantha Rogers notched her best SEC cross country performance, finishing 15th to lead the Tiger women, finishing the 6k course in 20:12.66, a new personal-best. Rogers, a native of Auburn, Alabama has show tremendous growth over the last two years after finishing 88th at the event as a freshman.
"Overall, both men and women took a positive step forward," Kindt said. "Today the men showed that they just keep getting better. They were nine points away from sixth place. The women had a tougher day and that hurt our overall team score, but I'm proud of this group this year and how they've competed all year. The future is bright for both teams of our teams. It was a very good day for Auburn cross country and we'll come back next year and expect a little bit more."
Newcomer Gene Coetzee earned freshman All-SEC honors after crossing in 20:33.55 to take 24th place as the fifth fastest freshman in the race.
"We had really great performances out of Samantha and Gene," Kindt said. "I'm really proud of Samantha and the progress she's made, improving 50 places from a year ago. I'm excited for her moving forward the rest of this season and into the spring. Gene has been good for us all year and as a freshman to come in the top 25 says a lot about her future and where she's going to go. It wasn't the day we wanted overall on the women's side, but I'm really excited about their future. They've worked incredibly hard all year."
The 15th and 24th place showings by Rogers and Coetzee marked the first time in 12 years that the Auburn women had two top 25 finishers at the conference meet.
"Overall, I think I did very well for my first SEC Championships," Coetzee said. "The last 2k was really tough and I was just trying to hang in there. I look forward to coming back even stronger next year."
Rounding out the Auburn scorers on the women's side were senior Hannah Tarwater (75th, 21:36.72), sophomore Hannah Thuss (86th, 21:43.99) and senior Sara Pacer (92nd, 21:51.72). The women finished 10th overall in the team standings with 260 points.
The Tigers will next race at the NCAA South Regional on Friday, November 11 at the John Hunt Cross Country Course in Huntsville, Alabama.
2022 SEC Cross Country Championships
Ole Miss Golf Course
Oxford, Mississippi
Women's Results (6k)
10. Auburn, 260 pts
Auburn Individual Results
15. Samantha Rogers, 20:12.66
24. Gene Coetzee, 20:33.55
75. Hannah Tarwater, 21:36.72
86. Hannah Thuss, 21:43.99
92. Sara Pacer, 21:51.72
122. Hallie Porterfield, 22:37.43
140. Hailey Marston, 23:22.83
Men's Results (8k)
7. Auburn, 199 pts
Auburn Individual Results
11. Ryan Kinnane, 23:27.02
25. Louis O'Loughlin, 24:04.23
47. Carson Bedics, 24:41.00
65. Dustyn Lewis, 25:13.93
69. Joseph Perry, 25:18.99
79. Cooper Atkins, 25:36.47
86. Isaiah Billingsley, 25:54.69
96. Mark Foster, 26:33.17
98. Benson Atkins, 26:54.18
