University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
SEC Championships
Blaase 3rd; Men 7th at SEC Champs
October 31, 2014 | Track & Field
Men's Results | Women's Results
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Chelsea Blaase earned medalist honors for the fifth consecutive race, this time continuing her stellar junior campaign with a third place finish Friday at the 2014 SEC Cross Country Championships. Blaase's effort headed a Tennessee women's side that finished 11th in the competition, while Austin Whitelaw's 11th place finish as an individual powered the UT men to seventh for the second consecutive season.The 2014 SEC Championships were hosted by the University of Alabama and held at the Harry Pritchett Running Park in Tuscaloosa.
"Chelsea just continues a great season," said UT director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan. "It was a tough way to get third but it was an honest race and that's championship racing. She put herself in contention for the win and you've got to give it to the Arkansas gals, they're on top of things right now."
Blaase, posting a career-best 6k time of 19:32.37, was narrowly edged out of the second-place spot by Arkansas senior Grace Heymsfield who finished in a time of 19:32.21. The third-place finish, amazingly, stands as Blaase's lowest finish of the fall season. In five races this year, she now has one outright win and three runners-up to go along with Friday's bronze.
The top-three finish earned Blaase a spot on the All-SEC first team for the first time in her career. She was a second-team All-SEC performer last year after coming in 10th.
Arkansas' Dominique Scott successfully defended her individual title from 2013, coming in at 19:22.74. Five Razorback runners finished in the top 12 of the event, giving Arkansas their second straight conference crown.
The top trio of Scott, Heymsfield, and Blaase recorded the three fastest times ever seen in the 6k race at the SEC Championships.
Fellow junior Alexis Panisse recorded a top 20 finish for the second consecutive year at the Championships, coming in 18th with a time of 20:42.55. Emily Williams (22:13.40) came in 85th to round out the Volunteer women's top three on the day.
On the men's side, senior Whitelaw concluded his final SEC Championships on a high note as he found himself on the All-SEC second team after an 11th place finish in the 8k. It was Whitelaw's best-ever finish at the Championships and came just two weeks after he posted a career-best finish of sixth on the same course at the Crimson Classic. He completed the race in a time of 24:46.39 -- the fastest 8k of his career.
Following Whitelaw, junior Kyle Walter came in 23rd in a time of 25:09.35 while Jack Little was 33rd at 25:25.07. Seniors J.R. Creekmore (26:03.70) and Jeremy Dickie (26:49.50) rounded out UT's top five, completing their final SEC Championships in 63rd and 89th, respectively.
"I'm very proud of the end result for the guys," said Sullivan. "They've had a season where they just continue to come together. All six of them ran better than they ever have at a conference meet. They ran off a lot of pride and they ran for each other and I couldn't be more pleased with them."
The Arkansas men's team took home the SEC title for the fifth consecutive year.
Tennessee will be idle next week before making its way to the NCAA South Regional Championships in Tallahassee, Florida, on Nov. 14. A top-two finish there would qualify the Volunteers for the NCAA Championships on Nov. 22.
2014 SEC Championships
Tennessee Results
Women's 6K
3. Chelsea Blaase, 19:32.37
18. Alexis Panisse, 20:42.55
85. Emily Williams, 22:13.40
100. Amirah Johnson, 22:42.08
116. Caroline Duer, 23:22.78
122. Lizzie Cornell, 24:06.96
Men's 8K
11. Austin Whitelaw, 24:46.39
23. Kyle Walter, 25:09.35
33. Jack Little, 25:25.07
63. J.R. Creekmore, 26:03.70
89. Jeremy Dickie, 26:49.50
100. Nick Kaiser, 27:30.37
