Cross Country Teams Head to Kentucky for Southeast Regionals

Nov. 12, 2010

Complete NCAA Southeast Regionals Notes

CLEMSON, SC – Clemson’s men’s and women’s cross country teams will travel to Louisville, KY to compete Saturday in the 2010 NCAA Southeast Regionals at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer Park. The women will compete in a 6K at 10:00 AM, while the men’s 10K competition will be held at 11:15 AM.

The women’s team, ranked No. 8 in the latest Southeast Region poll by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), will travel seven student-athletes to the meet Saturday.

Kim Ruck once again leads the women’s cross country team at Clemson. The junior from Greer, SC finished 11th at the Southeast Regionals on this same course last fall. She is coming off a 19th-place individual effort at the ACC Championships in Boston, MA two weeks ago. Ruck’s top 6K time this season has been 20:46.7. She ran a time of 20:44.4 at the regional meet last year.

Alyssa Kulik has picked up steam this season and is running the best times of her life. The Simpsonville, SC native ran a time of 21:12.8 and was 28th out of 112 runners two weeks ago at the ACC meet in Boston. Kulik has been Clemson’s No. 2 performer four straight meets.

Three veterans rounded out Clemson’s scoring effort at ACCs, led by senior Stephanie Buffo. She finished 49th at the meet and also scored for the Tigers at the Southeast Regionals last season. Elyse Borisko and Sarah Turman contributed scoring performances at ACCs two weeks ago. Natalie Anthony and Alyssa Henshaw, a pair of freshmen, complete the Tigers’ travel squad on the women’s side.

Ty McCormack paces the men’s team. An outstanding freshman from Gainesville, GA, McCormack has been Clemson’s top finisher in each meet so far this season. He was 15th at the ACC Championships on Oct. 30, just one spot shy of earning an all-conference honor in his first try. McCormack ran a season-best 8K time of 24:12.5 at Franklin Park in Boston. He figures to only get stronger as the race lengthens to a 10K this weekend.

Chris Slate had his best performance of late at the ACC Championships. He came across the finish line in 53rd place, but did so with a season-best time of 25:20.1. Slate has scored at regionals each of the last two seasons.

The remainder of the men’s travel team will be comprised of Kevin McKenna and Nic Tones. Of the four, only Kennedy has competed in an NCAA regional meet.