Clemson Women Finish 12th, Men 15th at NCAA Southeast Regionals Saturday

Nov. 14, 2009

LOUISVILLE, KY – Clemson sophomore Kim Ruck finished 11th Saturday at the NCAA Southeast Regional at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park to lead the cross country team efforts. Ruck’s all-region performance led the women’s team to a 12th-place finish. The Clemson men finished 15th as a team.

The women’s team competition was won by Duke. Virginia was runner-up. In the men’s team race, William & Mary ran away with the championship while NC State finished second.

Ruck’s 11th-place showing was the best by a Clemson female at the regional level since Mareike Ressing was fifth in 1993. It was the second straight season a Clemson female was named to the all-region team. Jenna Baker, who did not compete Saturday because of injury, was 12th last season.

Ruck, whose 6K time was 20:44.38, will await word on whether or not she has earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. The national meet will be held Monday, Nov. 23 in Terre Haute, IN.

Clemson’s No. 2 finisher Saturday was Lauren Reen, a freshman from Orlando, FL. Reen put together a time of 21:10.08 over the 6000m course, an improvement of over 30 seconds on her time from the ACC Championships two weeks ago. Fellow rookie Kelsey Armstrong, the top newcomer earlier in the season, did not compete Saturday.

Stephanie Buffo was 94th. The Spartanburg, SC native crossed the finish line with a time of 22:42.12. Alyssa Kulik was the team’s No. 5 runner Saturday.

The men’s team was once again paced by the efforts of Patrick Jagielski rounded out the scoring efforts for the Tigers.