Now four meets into the season, the Auburn women's cross-country team is off to a hot start. It has finished first in three out of four meets, and finished third in the other.
Last year, the Auburn women’s cross country team finished ninth at the SEC Championships, but this year, the athletes are more confident than ever that they have a chance to place in the top five at the SEC Championships.
“We should be striving to be top 5 on both sides men and women," coach Mark Carroll said. "On the day, if everything clicks and everyone feels good, if everyone runs their race of the season, we could be a lot higher.”
At the Furman Classic, the team had 3 runners--Brenda Kigen, Molly McKenna, and Veronica Eder--place in the top 5 in the meet, including Kigen who placed 2nd overall out of 206 runners.
Kigen is a very important addition to the team this year. In her first race of the season at Samford, Kigen placed third overall with a time of 10 minutes and 55 seconds in the 3K. Kigen was named SEC Freshman of the Week following her race at Furman.
One thing that will give Auburn an edge this year is depth.
“On the ladies side we are deep from (runners) eight to nine," Carroll said. "The team has more overall depth than years before and more enthusiasm. It seems like the team both men and women are more focused than ever before.”
Another important piece to the team is Eder. Eder started off the season by winning the Samford Tri Meet Cross Country Opener running the 3K in 10 minutes and 52 seconds. Eder also finished fifth at Furman just 9 seconds after Kigen.
“I think that we can definitely come in the top 5 at SECs this year, I’m confident enough to say that," Eder said. "I think we could definitely beat Mississippi State and Alabama depending on the day. I would love for us to make nationals ... Individually I would love to make nationals, (and) I would like to make top 10 at regionals."
Another integral to the team this season is McKenna, a sophomore. McKenna finished second overall at Samford with a time of 10 minutes and 53 seconds in the 3K. She also finished third at Furman with a time of 21 minutes and 10 seconds in the 6K.
Last year, McKenna was named to the 2014 NCAA All-South Region Team and the 2014 SEC Cross Country All-Freshman Team. McKenna has already improved from last year, most notably in her 6K time, which she has shaved 35 seconds off of from her last race.
McKenna said she knows that she is part of a special team this year.
“We have definitely grown as a team, we are more mature athletes this year, and we have a lot more confidence in ourselves this year," McKenna said. "We know that we’re good and that we could really push the envelope.”
The team’s average time at the Furman Classic has improved by 29 seconds from last year, which is a huge improvement.
With the help of Kigen, Eder, McKenna and the rest of the team, the results for the SEC Championships this year are looking better than ever.
“We are looking really strong right now," McKenna said. "I think we might surprise a lot of teams out there, I think we are in a good place right now."
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