Women?s cross hunts for 13th title at SEC Championships

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 13 Arkansas Razorback women’s cross country will run at the SEC Championships, Monday, Nov. 3, in Starkville, Miss. The women’s 6K race is set to go off at 10 a.m. CST at the Mississippi State Cross Country Course.

Denise Bargiachi, Halsey Fowler, Cali George, Megan Jackson, Christine Kalmer, Samantha Learch, Ashley Mason, Dacia Perkins, Jillian Rosen, Ashley Williams and Catherine White are scheduled to compete for Arkansas on Monday.

Alabama, Auburn, No. 14 Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Tennessee (receiving votes) and Vanderbilt, along with No. 13 Arkansas, will compete at the SEC Championships on Monday.

Since joining the Southeastern Conference just in time for the 1991 SEC Cross Country Championships, the Razorbacks have won 12 of the 17 possible titles, including five-year stretches from 1991-95 and 1998-2002.

The Razorbacks have captured 10 of the possible 17 individual titles, including a six-year stretch from 1997-2002, with the most recent coming in 2006 from Brooke Upshaw. Deena (Drossin) Kastor was the first SEC Champion for Arkansas when she won her first of two league cross country titles in 1991.

The 2007 season was no different. Arkansas won the team title with 39 points, with four scorers earning All-SEC honors and the scoring five finishing in the top 15. The victory was the second straight for Arkansas and the 12th in 17. It was a repeat for the Razorbacks from the last time the league championships were held in Lexington, Ky.

From the 2007 SEC Championships, Arkansas returns four harriers that earned first team, second team or all-freshman league honors. Denise Bargiachi, Christine Kalmer and Jillian Rosen were listed on the first team, Dani Parry earned second team honors and Rosen and Catherine White were named to the SEC All-Freshman team.

The Razorbacks were without senior Dacia Perkins at the Chile Pepper Festival because of family commitments. Adding her back to the lineup is another weapon for Arkansas.

Perkins will be back in action at her fourth SEC Championships. She is a three-time all-region honoree, a 2006 All-SEC performer and a national and regional qualifier. Her top finish at the SEC Championships is as runner-up in 2006.

For more information about the SEC Cross Country Championships, visit www.secsports.com. For more information about Arkansas Razorback Athletics, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.

Download: 11.3.08 SECs.pdf