MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Centre women's cross country team returned to Rhodes for the second time this season as they competed in the Southern Athletic Association Championships. The Colonels finished in second place by the slimmest of margins.

Centre finished with a combined team score of 36 points, falling just six points shy of first place Berry. Centre and Berry finished with 13 of the top 16 overall finishers, making the six-point differential a matter of seconds in the race. Rhodes, Sewanee and Hendrix rounded out the top five team finishes in that order.

Individually, the top time of the day belonged to the Colonels as Sophie Bouldin won the 6k race with a time of 22:05.11. The next Centre runner to cross the finish line was Erin Haugh, who posted a time of 22:54.14 to finish fifth overall and join Bouldin on the All-SAA First Team.

Centre had two more individual runners crack the overall top ten to earn All-SAA Second Team. Rachel Gaynor finished seventh overall with a 6k time of 23:30.80, followed by first-year Claire Barnett, who set a new personal best 6k mark with a time of 23:46.19 to finish tenth overall.

Cara Taylor rounded out the scored times for the Colonels with a time of 24:01.16, good for 13th place overall to earn Honorable Mention All-SAA recognition. She was joined on the Honorable Mention All-SAA list by Emma Musgrave, who finished right behind her at 24:01.56 for 14th place.

AWARD WINNERS

Sophie Bouldin - SAA Runner of the Year, All-SAA First Team
Erin Haugh - All-SAA First Team
Rachel Gaynor - All-SAA Second Team
Claire Barnett - All-SAA Second Team
Cara Taylor - All-SAA Honorable Mention
Emma Musgrave - All-SAA Honorable Mention

NEXT UP

The Colonels will head back to Indiana in two weeks to compete in the Great Lakes Regional Championships.