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 Sarah Turman was third, posting a time of 22:33.61. 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 Chris Slate and Jonathan Sunde, both juniors. Slate had a time of 32:19.82, a personal best at the 10,000m distance, and placed 66th. Sunde was close behind in 74th with a time of 32:32.09. Bryce Iverson was in action for the second straight week. He showed great improvement over last week and had a time of 32:37.17 in an 80th-place showing. Tyler Morey and Patrick Jagielski rounded out the scoring efforts for the Tigers.