Cayce Bryan, Camden Perez and Terris Elliott ran their best times of the season to lead the Lady Flames and Flames to 13th and 11th-place finishes, respectively, at the NCCAA Cross Country Championships. The event was held at the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course on the campus of Cedarville University.
Bryan shaved 26 seconds off her best 5K time of the season to place 24th out of 227 runners with a time of 19:12.40. Her previous best was 19:38.66 at the Commodore Classic in September.
Perez lowered his season-best 8K time by almost nine seconds, while Elliott lowered his best time by nearly 12 seconds.
Perez finished 27th out of 231 runners with a time of 26:32.83. Elliott was 55th (27:08.01).
Roberts Wesleyan University claimed the women’s title with a score of 49. Azusa Pacific University was second (79) and Dallas Baptist University was third (101). Gulf South Conference foes Union University and Shorter University also participated. Union was fourth (148) and Shorter was 15th (406), while Lee posted a score of 379.
The individual women’s champion was Kelsey Bruce of Dallas Baptist. She crossed the finish line at 17:58.94.
Jessica Childers and Ashley Matthews were the second and third Lady Flames to finish. Childers finished 24th (20:01.88) and Matthews was 70th (20:02.72).
The final two scoring runners for Lee were Emily Arnesen and Emily Bryan. Arnesen was 92nd at 20:32.80 and Bryan was 145th with a time of 21:30.38. Storyie Miller recorded a time of 22:13.72 (165th).
On the men’s side, Azusa Pacific (84) edged Roberts Wesleyan (87) for the team championship. Union placed sixth (202) and Shorter was 10th (242). The Flames had a team score of 266.
The individual champion was Andrew Reidsma of Trinity Christian. He posted a time of 25:13.36.
Patrick Shultz was the second-fastest Lee runner (27:05.10, 50th). Joseph Crook and Emmanuel Kipchumba were the final two that counted toward the team score. Crook was 73rd (27:31.47) and Kipchumba was 84th (27:43.01).
Adam Gullette finished the race in 29:12.75 to finish 143rd. Keenen Hindes was 168th at 30:04.22.