Mississippi State got off to a quick start to the 2005 season, winning the team title at the Belmont Opener on Sept. 2. Five Bulldogs finished in the top 10 at the event, and the team accumulated 23 total points to take home top honors.
“This is a good team, and they ran well,” men’s head coach Steve Dudley said of the effort. He also praised the team for a very impressive performance on a tough course.
The Belmont win marks the first time a Bulldog cross country squad has finished atop the result board since 1995. State pulled away from host Belmont University, who took second with 52 points. Western Kentucky (98), Vanderbilt (130) and Middle Tennessee State (147) rounded out the top five.
Junior Travis McKay led the way for State. McKay was the top collegiate runner in the 5K race, finishing in 15:04.08 and placing third overall.
Sophomores John Brigham, Pad Judd and Robert Scribner all had impressive showings in the 5K. Brigham finished fourth collegiately (sixth overall) in 15:09.76, while Judd followed him across the line in 15:11.18, finishing in fifth-place collegiately (seventh overall).
Scribner timed out at 15:13.56, taking eighth. The mark stands as a near 30-second improvement over his best 5K time from a year ago. Rounding out the top 10 finishers for MSU was junior Brandon Smith, who improved his 5K time by almost a full minute. He finished ninth in 15:13.56.
McKay’s standout performance earned him the honor of being named the Southeastern Conference’s Male Cross Country Athlete of the Week on Sept. 7, his first SEC Athlete of the Week honor.
“Travis worked very hard this past summer, and he deserves this recognition,” Dudley said. “As the year goes on, hopefully our team can have more of these honors.”
On the women’s side, freshman Michelle Corrigan guided the Lady Bulldogs to a third-place finish in her first collegiate meet. Corrigan finished sixth in the women’s 4K race with a time of 14:32.16.
“We ran a great race,” women’s head coach Al Schmidt said. “We ran hard, and I was real pleased.”
Senior Zita Magloire finished ninth in the event, clocking in at 14:40.70. Two other freshmen, Brittany Detzel and Abbey O’Connell, finished 18th (15:10.13) and 31st (15:37.89). Junior Joy Griffith placed in the top 20, finishing 20th with a time of 15:13.67.
The Lady Bulldogs finished with 79 overall points. Conference rivals Vanderbilt (45) and Tennessee (54) swept the top two spots. Alabama finished fourth with 99 points and UAB took fifth (128).
The Mississippi State University Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs cross country teams will return to action at the Crimson Classic tomorrow at the Harry Pritchard Golf Course in Tuscaloosa, Ala.