Longwood women’s cross country junior Gracie Piekarski and men’s sophomore Leon Beard broke into the Longwood record books over the weekend at the NCAA Southeast Regional that was held at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia. Both finished as the top runner for their respective teams.
Beard, who was Longwood’s No. 2 finisher at every race in the 2015 season, placed his first top team finish of his young career at the 10K course. He ended up finishing 182 out of a 223-participant field.
Piekarski earned the top spot in Longwood’s rotation for the seventh straight race with a career best 23:45.7. She finished off her junior campaign tying two former Lancers, Kate Knupp and Brittany Foote, for seventh-fastest times at a 6K course. Of the 235 participants, Piekarski placed 155th.
"I'm proud of both teams for the work they put in today and this season," said cross country head coach Catherine Hanson on the Longwood athletics website. "Leon (Beard) and Johnny (Leder) really stepped up today and raced for the first time this season at a longer distance. Russell (Reed) was a bit banged up today, so I had him race conservatively because I want him to have a very good race next Saturday at the IC4A."
Junior Johnny Leder and senior Russell Reed finished out the top three for the Lancers with respective times of 34:39.7 and 35:12.5. The two were able to place 197th and 206th which ended up providing enough points to avenge a 12-point loss to Presbyterian at the Big South Championship on Oct. 30.
Reed, who is the lone senior on the squad, had been the top runner for the Lancers all season long until Friday’s race. He holds the Longwood 5K record as well as top-10 finishes in the 8K and 10K lists. Reed will get another opportunity to race and extend his senior campaign Saturday, Nov. 21 at the ECAC/IC4A Invitational in Bronx, New York.
The invitational next week will be the last race for the Lancers this season as they will transition over to offseason outdoor track and field events in the spring of 2016.
