FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Announced by the Southeastern Conference on Wednesday, Arkansas Razorback sophomore Catherine White and head coach Lance Harter have earned post-season cross country awards.
White, a native of Roanoke, Va., has been named the 2008 SEC Athlete of the Year after a commanding victory at this season's conference championships. White is the 11th individual winner for the Razorbacks and the second in the last three years.
White won three races during her breakout 2008 season, including the SEC individual title. In five meets this season, she did not finish outside of the top seven and was the top SEC finisher at each meet. In addition to the SEC Championships, she took race wins at the Arkansas Dual and the Memphis Twilight Classic.
Her season-best 6K time (20:07.26) leads the SEC and she won her first SEC title by a margin of nearly 12 seconds. Currently, only eight runners have crossed the finish line ahead of her in her five races this season.
She was named the SEC Runner of the Week on three occasions during the 2008 season and earned her first All-SEC honor at the championships.
"This is a great honor for Catherine and we are very proud of her," Harter said. "She has worked so hard and trained really well all season; she deserves this honor. She is a great asset to our team and we look for more great things out of her this season and in the future."
Harter, in his 19th season at Arkansas and 30th overall as a head coach, was named the 2008 SEC Coach of the Year after guiding the Razorbacks to their 13th overall and third-straight SEC cross country title. Harter has been named the league cross country coach of the year on 13 occasions. During his tenure at Arkansas, his cross country and track and field teams have won a total of 19 SEC Championships.
Arkansas women's cross country will compete next at the NCAA South Central regional Championships Sat., Nov. 15 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. For more information on Arkansas Athletics, visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com.
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?
