Cross Country Wraps Third Meet In Three Weeks At Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational - Longwood Athletics

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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Longwood men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up their third meet of the fall at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational on Friday night. The Lancer women finished ninth among the 10 team field while running a 6K. The Lancer men were ninth in the nine team field in the 8K.

Women's Times (6K)
56: Caroline Fairbanks—24:27.5
68: Lanie Grogg—24:45.9
70: Grace Puleo—24:48.0
99: Nicole Pinder—26:12.4
107: Kathryn Oylear—26:57.6
108: Kiersten Witte—27:00.2
113: Aislinn Garcia—28:59.0
114: Lauren Vick—29:18.3
116: Rachel Simmons—30:00.3

Men's Times (8K)
82: Ethan Pettyjohn—27:35.1
84: Saad Khan—27:47.2
90: Benjamin Goulet—28:08.0
103: Sam Sager—28:53.6
107: Andrew Schaeffer—29:04.7
108: Tim Slater—29:34.6
109: Alec Daniel—29:38.5
115: Shahmique Cromwell—30:31.0
116: Javier Roldan—30:35.1
117: Bryce Christian—30:35.2
118: Zachary Lam—31:31.7

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Caroline Fairbanks led the way for Longwood in the team's first 6K race of the season. Her time of 24:27.5 had her finish in the middle of the field.

She, Lanie Grogg (24:24:45.9) and Grace Puleo (24:48.0) all were right in the thick of the race with conference rival Radford. The three of them finished within 30 seconds of each other and within a minute of Radford's top runner one week after the Highlanders and Lancers raced at the Lancer Pink Invitational.

For Grogg, it was her 6K debut for the Lancers, along with the rest of the squad outside of Fairbanks, Puleo and Pinder.

For the Lancer men, Pettyjohn led the way in a fast-paced field, with the sophomore posting a 27:35.1 to finish 82^nd in the 120-runner field.

Four of his teammates set personal bests. Saad Khan clocked in at 27:47.2, and Benjamin Goulet turned in a 28:08.0 for a new PR. Timothy Slater's 29:34.6 and Bryce Christian's 30:35.2 both represented personal bests in their debut season for the Lancers.

WHAT THEY SAID:

"I told the women to go out and run with grit, and they did," said Longwood head coach Brooke Craig. "Caroline, Lanie and Grace worked hard from start to finish on the rolling course. They were in the mix with the Radford women who dominated them last week. It was a debut distance for most of the women, and the focus was to learn the distance."

"On the men's side, the focus was to work together and push it from the start," Craig added. "It paid off with four personal records and season bests for a lot of the team."

"We've had a heavy race schedule for the start of the season," Craig said about her team's third race in as many weeks. "They are definitely feeling it. The next few weeks will be focused on getting stronger and fine tuning things before we start the second half of the season in October."

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Longwood has had three raced through three weeks this season with the Radford Relays, the Lancer Pink Invitational and today's race.

Originally, the Lancers were scheduled to race at the James Madison Invitational, but the event was cancelled.

UP NEXT:

The Lancers are off next weekend before returning to action on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the Live at Lousiville race in Louisville, Kentucky.

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