Despite a strong showing at the Pre-Nationals over the weekend in Terre Haute, Ind., senior cross country runner Rob Whiting and the Commodores believe they still have things to work on with the Southeastern Conference championships looming in early November.

Whiting led the team with a personal best time of 25:55.4 in the 8K race, while senior Michael Nordlund (26:27.2), freshman Kyle Rewick (26:30.1) and juniors Thomas Davis (26:39.3) and James Kasten (26:53.5) rounded out the top five finishers for Vanderbilt. Davis managed to finish the race despite breathing difficulties stemming from a lung problem.

Still, Whiting and his teammates felt Vanderbilt could have performed better.

"We had a few good races on the team, but on the whole, the team was not too happy with its performance," Whiting said. "It was a new course to us, and I think some of the team lost focus midway through."

Whiting broke his personal goal of 26:00 in the 8K race but still was not totally satisfied with his race time.

"I think the 26:00 barrier was mostly mental," Whiting said. "Now that I am broken through that barrier, I am ready to run faster. I would like to go under 25:30 at the SECs, so we'll see what happens."

The women's team, meanwhile, was again led by sophomore Rita Jorgensen, running a personal best 21:12 in the 6K race in Terre Haute.

Kristabel Doebel-Hickok (22:01), Amanda Scott (22:31), Alexa Rogers (22:32) and Adrienne DiRaddo (22:33) followed behind Jorgensen to help the Commodores to a 27th-place finish in the Pre-Nationals.

Jorgensen said the team did not finish as high as they had hoped for but added there were still positives that came out of it.

"It was still a really positive step for the team," Jorgensen said. "We did better as a team than we have in previous years. It was a high-level national field, and it was a good experience for our young team."

Both the men's and women's teams will be training hard, concentrating on pack running especially, with the SEC Championships approaching in Starkville, Miss. on Nov. 3.

"We have bigger challenges ahead with the SEC and NCAA Regional meets," Jorgensen said. "We're still a young team, mostly freshmen and sophomores, but we would like to earn some respect in the SEC."

"We have to stay focused because the SECs are a smaller field," Whiting said. "Mental toughness will be key in the postseason."