Lady Vol Junior Collects First Weekly League Honor Since 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- University of Tennessee junior Sarah Bowman has been named as the initial Southeastern Conference Women s Cross Country Athlete of the Week for 2007, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon.
A native of Warrenton, Va., and a graduate of Fauquier (FOCK-ier) High School, Bowman collected the second SEC cross country weekly honor of her career and the first by a Lady Vol since Katie Flaute was recognized on Oct. 4, 2005. Bowman did so by winning the Belmont Opener in Nashville on Aug. 31 with a career-best 4,000-meter clocking of 14 minutes, 00.58 seconds on an 87-degree evening in Music City.
Bowman s previous SEC Cross Country Athlete of the Week award came nearly two years ago to the day (Sept. 7, 2005), when she won the Belmont Opener that season in her first meet as a Lady Vol. Her readout en route to victory during that race was 14:09.82.
This time around, Bowman s effort enabled Tennessee to open its 2007 campaign with a team win, which was the Lady Vols first in the program s four trips to Belmont. It marked the third time in Head Coach J.J. Clark s six seasons in Knoxville that his squad emerged victorious from its opening meet and the 17th time in 36 competitions that the Big Orange women took home the team trophy.
In her career, Bowman now has led UT to the finish line on five occasions, and she has claimed three meet victories during the process. Her triumphs include the Belmont Opener in 2005 and 2007 and the Tennessee Invitational in 2005. The Lady Vol standout will join her teammates on Sept. 14, as they host the 2007 edition of the Tennessee Invitational at Lambert Acres Golf Club in Maryville. Race time for the 5K affair is 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
