Bowman earns All-America honors in cross country

Tennessee senior Sarah Bowman became the first Lady Vol in eight seasons to earn All-America honors in cross country, racing to a 36th-place finish Monday at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

Bowman, from Warrenton, Va., covered the 6,000-meter LaVern Gibson Championship Course in 20 minutes, 39.5 seconds to become the Lady Vols' eighth NCAA All-American and 10th overall honoree, including AIAW competition. The last to earn the honor was Sharon Dickie, who finished 29th at the 2000 NCAA meet.

Running in a field of 252 competitors on a blusteryday, Bowman made her third NCAA cross country appearance her best. She had finished 97th (22:08.1) as a sophomore in 2006 and 231st (22:40.4) as a freshman in 2005.

Tennessee teammate Jackie Areson ran a 21:14.7 to wind up 104th, an improvement over her 161st-place finish of 22:35.6 in 2006.

“Our goal was for Sarah to become an All-American at this meet, and it was nice to see her accomplish that,” UT coach J.J. Clark said. “We know we’ve had our difficulties in the past with achieving our goals at this meet, so it was good to see her stay focused and run tough today. Cross country has not always been her forte’, but she showed great character out there today.”

Bowman had previously earned six All-America honors on the track.

“It means a lot to me to earn All-America honors,” Bowman said. “I never would have dreamed of being an All-American in cross country back when I was a freshman. I’ve come a long way in terms of my maturity and respect for this sport, and I am very excited to see where this takes me during the track & field season.”

A four-time All-SEC and three-time All-South Region honoree during her cross country career, Bowman had made the meet as an individual by finishing second in 20:50.29 at the NCAA South Regional in Maryville on Nov. 15. Areson, meanwhile, punched her ticket by finishing 11th at the regional meet in 21:15.52 and carding her second All-South Region nod.

“It was good to see Jackie run a competitive race,” Clark said. “She had a really good finish, passing 20 or so people down the stretch, but she definitely has more there. Our goal for her was to place in top 100. She came up a little short, but she beat a lot of people out there today who had beaten her in the past, so that was a good showing.”

Washington won the 2008 NCAA team title with 79 points, followed by Oregon in second with 131 and South Region champ Florida State in third with 163. SEC foes Arkansas, Florida and Kentucky wound up 15th, 17th and 31st, respectively, out of 31 teams.