– The Lee University Men’s Cross Country team posted its third straight Gulf South Conference Championship Saturday morning. The title is the seventh overall for the Lee men. The 8K Championship was hosted by Mississippi College at Choctaw Trails.
The Flames placed three runners in the top five and six in the top 10 on their way to recording 24 points. Alabama Huntsville was second with 52 points and Mississippi College was third with 79 points.
Luke Gaddis was Lee’s first finisher. He stopped the clock at 24:04.50 to place second out of 99 total runners. Sam Wilhelm of Alabama Huntsville was the individual champion with a time of 23:52.90.
Ryan Lovelace and Owen Pearce completed Lee’s top five finishers. Lovelace (24:08.90) placed third and Pearce (24:13.20) was fourth. Edimo Ninteretse’s time of 24:14.80 put him in sixth place. Pierre Chauveau closed out the Lee scorers with an eighth-place finish (24:20.90).
Xian Campbell and Aaron Himes were the Lee spacers. Campbell finished 10th at 24:23.50 and Himes was 11th (24:28.10). Stephen Clark, Jacob Hatcher and Caleb Guthery were the final Flames across the finish line. Clark (24:40.40) was 14th, Hatcher (24:43.00) was 16th and Guthery (24:46.80) ensured that all 10 Lee runners finished in the top 20 with a 17th-place finish.
Lee had all 10 runners earn All-GSC honors by finishing in the top 20. Gaddis, Lovelace, Pearce, Nintereste, Chauveau and Campbell were all First Team All-GSC, while Himes, Clark, Hatcher and Guthery claimed Second Team All-GSC honors.
Gaddis was selected as the Champion Scholar-Athlete, while Chauveau earned GSC Freshman of the Year. Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Caleb Morgan was named the GSC Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year for the seventh time.
The Flames advance to the NCAA South Region Championship which will be held November 9 in Huntsville, Alabama. The 10K race will be hosted by the University of Alabama in Huntsville and the Huntsville Sports Commission at the John Hunt Park Cross Country Course.
Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Caleb Morgan’s Thoughts:
"I knew our men had made a big jump in fitness since we last competed three weeks ago. I was a little surprised it was this much. They did an amazing job competing together. They really wanted it and kept each other close. This is the best team performance we have ever had this late in the season."
"Pierre being freshman of the year and breaking our freshman record was well deserved. He put in a lot of extra work this season and was rewarded today."
Luke and Ryan continue to impress for us, they have been running very sound tactical races. Their leadership helped set the tone today."