Sept. 15, 2007

The Lady Bisons cross country team finished in seventh place in the Commodore Classic Saturday at Vaughn's Gap.

Carolyn Latham was the top finisher for the women's team in a time of 19:21 for the 5-K race, an improvement of 1:03 over her time from last year.

Close behind, Shannon Shoemake had a terrific day with a time of 20:08 a 52-second improvement over last year. Erin Pyles was third for the team in a time of 20:15, a 54-second improvement over last year's time. Freshman Jenny Randolph followed close behind in a time of 20:16, while freshman Caitlin Anderson runded out the Lipscomb top five with a time of 20:58. Julie Alley (21:12), Valerie Winkler (21:59) and Paloma Floden (22:14) rounded out the eight finishers for the Bison.

"I was very impressed by the improvement I saw on our women's team," said head coach Bill Taylor. "Although we can improve a ton before the end of the season, the women really competed today. It was fun to watch.

"Carolyn made a big statement for herself up front. We believe her time is her all-time 5K cross country PR. Shannon Shoemake attacked the course and ran terrific for the team. Jenny Randolph impresses me so much with her guts and heart. She ran her all-time 5K PR today. But I think my favorite performance one the day was Julie Alley, who was struggling at the start of the season, but looked great today and really attacked the race. Her performance is an inspiration for the whole team."

Taylor continues to be pleased with the way the teams have quickly adapted to his coaching style. The Bisons also finished seventh in the race as wekk.

"I am extremely happy with the dramatic improvement we've seen already (in just five weeks) for both the men and the women,' Taylor said. "It's tough for a team to get a new coach just one week before the season and then try to learn his system and adapt to his coaching philosophy.

"We've had a lot of hurdles to overcome, yet they are knocking those hurdles down rapidly. Both teams are believing more every day and we are just going to get better and better. Both teams also have a long way to go yet, which is very exciting. We don't really know how good we can be this year, but I know they will put it all on the line and find out. That's all I can ask of them."

Complete results can be found at: http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/w-xc/stats/2007-2008/girlsxcrez07.html and http://vucommodores.cstv.com/sports/m-xc/stats/2007-2008/boysxcrez07.html