Oct. 20, 2007

TROY, Ala. - The UAB cross country team competed for one last time before the Conference USA Championship on Oct. 27, running in the Coach "O" Invitational, hosted by Troy, on Saturday afternoon. The Blazers finished the two-mile race in seventh place.

The Blazers' roster for the Coach "O" Invitational was comprised mostly of runners who will not be competing in the conference meet. UAB assistant coach Kurt Thomas said the event was more of a chance for some runners to get a race under their belts.

"This was really just a race to get some other girls experience running in a cross country meet," Thomas said. "It was a also a tune-up for the girls that may still race in the conference championship."

Junior Alina Varpiotaite, racing in the first cross country meet of her collegiate career, was the pace setter for the Blazers. She finished the 3200-meter course in 14th place overall with a time of 12:00.21.

Sophomore Katie Horton finished second for the Blazers, and 28th overall, while improving her time (12:18.75) by nearly a minute from last year's Coach "O" Invitational.

"I think Katie was pretty impressed with her result this year," Thomas said.

Freshman Bianca LeBlanc, also racing in her first collegiate meet, was 36th (12:43.66). Sophomore Christina Chambers took 41st place (12:49.22), while Tracy Rowan finished 43rd (12:52.41) and Jasmine Sheffield ended in 69th place (15:57.89).

Mercer took the team-title with 75 points, and Birmingham Southern was second with 79 points. Southern Miss took third (90), followed by Georgia State (115) and Florida A&M (129) rounding out the top five.

Southeastern Louisiana's Everlyne Matonyei won the individual-title with a time of 11:13.27.

UAB will race next weekend in the 2007 C-USA Championship in El Paso, Texas. The Blazers are the defending league champions after taking the title in '06.