Georgia’s men’s cross-country team placed sixth at the 2002 NCAA South Region

Cross Country Championships Saturday morning at the Lambert Acres Golf Course in Maryville, Tenn., the home cross country course of the Tennessee cross country team.

The women only competed with four runners and did not record a team score. The top two teams and top four individuals not on the qualifying teams in each region automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships along with 13 at-large team bids and two at-large individual bids.

In the women’s six kilometer race, freshman Lauren Burks placed sixth with a time of 22:16.88, earning All-Region honors (top 25 finishers) and, more importantly, an individual berth in the NCAA Championships.

Burks is the first Lady Bulldog to qualify for the NCAA meet since the women’s team qualified in 1997.

Senior Whitney Nelson-Stansell (29th, 23:06.89), freshman Clair Nowakowski (58th, 24:07.92) and redshirt freshman Christine Shepherd (93rd, 25:23.86) were the Lady Bulldogs’ other competitors Saturday.

The men’s team was led by junior Ian Dickinson, who placed 10th in a time of 32:44.16 to earn All-Region honors.

Dickinson was the fifth individual to finish that was not on the top two teams and just missed an automatic berth in the NCAA Championships by one place.

Junior Alex McQueen (29th, 33:27.85), senior Andrew Lafrenz (31st, 33:29.65), junior Philip Bett (33rd, 33:30.62) and freshman Grant Eichenlaub (56th, 34:08.79) completed the scoring for the Bulldogs.

The NCAA Championships are Monday, Nov. 25, in Terre Haute, Ind.

– Staff Reports