TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Sophomore Kristie Krueger had the top finish for Georgia to highlight the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind., on Saturday morning.

Krueger finished 31st overall with a time of 21:22.0 to help lead the Lady Bulldogs to a 19th place finish in their 6K race. On the men’s side, Georgia finished 15 spots better than 2008 by taking 24th in their 8K race behind senior Bejan Abtahi’s 78th-place finish.

“We saw what great cross country teams look like today and now we need to make the adjustments to get up there with them,” said Georgia cross country coach Jeff Pigg. “This meet wasn’t a bad thing for us with the conference meet coming up.”

Krueger finished just ahead of senior Bridget Lyons, who clocked a 21:28.9 to take 39th. Lyons improved 69 spots from her 2008 finish. Georgia’s final three scorers were junior Kylie Foley (139th – 21:31.8), freshman Ashley Shiver (140th – 22:32.3) and senior McKayla Plank (140th – 22:35.0).

Senior Dustin Tetley, who improved his finish from last year almost 100 spots, finished 108th after crossing the finish line in 25:18.7 to be the Bulldogs’ second finisher. Freshman Bill Matthews continued his development by taking 113th (25:22.2) in his first trip to Terre Haute. Georgia’s final two scorers were sophomores Brett Richardson (130th – 25:32.1) and Matt Cleaver (173rd – 26:01.7).

“We are getting a little better and I think this will be a meet where we look back and say we responded well following this performance,” said Pigg. “We are not going to be at the top of our game every weekend and we weren’t there today. But I thought Bejan did a nice job and now we just need some guys to get up there with him.”

This will be Georgia’s final meet before the Southeastern Conference Championships arrive in Oxford, Miss., on Oct. 31.

- Georgia Sports Communications