TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Kennesaw State’s Mackenzie Howe continued to outperform the competition, and pulled off perhaps her most impressive performance of 2009 yet, as the junior took first place in a third straight meet at the Crimson Classic, hosted by the University of Alabama, on Friday evening. She has now won all three meets to kick off the season for the Owls, and this time it was in a 5k race, the first one the squad has tackled all season.

Howe was able to win the race with a time of 17:13, three seconds better than the second place finisher, Holly Knight of Auburn, who came in with a time of 17:16. Overall, the Owls finished in 7th place, with a score of 164 points.

Aside from being a 5k as opposed to the two-mile races that the Owls had competed in to start the season, Howe and her teammates were also facing the stiffest competition they had gone up against to this point in the season. Region powers Tennessee, Auburn, host Alabama, and Georgia Tech, all ranked in the top-15 in the NCAA's South Region according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, were some of the teams that headlined the field. Howe was happy to face tough opposition, and in fact thought it improved her performance.

“It was great racing against Holly Knight from Auburn, being neck-and-neck with her throughout the race was a great motivator,” said Howe, who noted that her time at the two-mile mark in this race was lower than either two-mile time that she had won with in the previous two meets.

“Right around the three-mile mark I realized that I still had a lot left, and that I had a really good chance to finish in front. It was fun to overcome a challenge like that.”

Britany Reilly was the next runner to finish for the Owls, finishing the race in 18:58 for 26th place overall. Kristen Gibson (19:40, 44th), Caitlin German (19:57, 55th) and Soibhan Wolcott (20:04, 57th) rounded out the scoring for the Owls, who are still without senior leader Erin Sutton. Sutton traveled with the team to Tuscaloosa, and was glad to observe some positive things.

“Obviously, Mackenzie is going to give us an incredible effort every time out,” said Sutton, who finished 5th when she ran at the Crimson Classic in 2006. “The key for us as a team is to make sure we are pushing each other in practice to run together and get the most out of each of our talents. I think that is definitely starting to happen,” she concluded, pointing to Gibson, German, Wolcott, and Jaime all finishing within 34 seconds of one another.

With Friday’s victory, Howe becomes the first Owl to win three consecutive races since KSU’s move to NCAA Division I in 2005. Sutton won two straight to start the 2007 season, with Howe, then a freshman, finishing as the runner-up both times.

Final Results

1. Alabama 43

2. Auburn 75

3. Tennessee 88

4. Georgia Tech 115

5. Samford 137

6. Chattanooga 153

7. Kennesaw State 164

8. L.S.U. 167

9. Belmont 254

10. Alabama State 259

11. Jackson State 297

12. North Alabama 360

13. Huntingdon 374

14. Alabama A & M 389

15. Stillman 418

Individual Results

1. Mackenzie Howe 17:13

26. Britany Reilly 18:58

44. Kristen Gibson 19:40

55. Caitlin German 19:57

57. Soibhan Wolcott 20:04

62. Lorena Jaime 20:14

109. Brittany Robinson 25:01