Longwood men’s and women’s cross country will have had a full two weeks rest by the time the Big South Cross Country Championship meet occurs this Saturday, Oct. 31 in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Both teams have found consistent leaders in senior Russell Reed (men’s) and junior Gracie Piekarski (women’s) in every race this season.
The two leaders have continued to show their improvement as both have hit high points in their careers throughout the fall campaign.
Reed made an immediate impression with his second place finish during the first meet at Coastal Carolina. Piekarski recently hit a new 5K personal record in their last meet finishing in 19:09.4 for a seventh place finish at the Cross Country Only Invitational.
"This was a big day for the women, each having a personal best," said ninth-year Longwood head coach Catherine Hanson after the meet on the Longwood athletics official website. "I'm confident this trend will continue into the Big South Championships in two weeks. Piekarski should break 19 minutes after conferences at the Adidas 3-Stripe Meet."
Joining Piekarski, the rest of the women’s runners also ran personal bests, including sophomore Kelsey Peace who finished sub-21 minutes for the first time in her career running a 20:37.3 5K time.
The latest invitational also saw men’s sophomore Leon Beard continue his climb on the coattails of Reed as he finished only nine seconds behind the team captain at 27:37.8 on the 8K men’s course.
The Longwood men all finished close together, with four of the five runners finishing within 16 spots and two minutes of each other.
Both teams placed within the top five teams. The women’s placed fourth of six schools while the men’s placed fifth of eight schools.
Longwood’s cross country teams have had four meets of preparation for the upcoming Big South championship.
