October 2, 2009

Complete Results

CARY, N.C. -- Longwood University men's cross country totaled 240 points to finish 10th among 13 teams Friday afternoon at the Great American Cross Country Festival run at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.  Duke University took first place with its 41 points, while the University of Maryland's Alex Lundy won the individual 8K race in 23:52.  The Lancers were led by sophomore Darren Simpson/Crewe (FUMA) with his time of 26:01 to just miss becoming only the second runner in school history under 26:00.  Longwood will compete again on October 16 at the Appalachian State/Blue Ridge Open in Boone, North Carolina beginning at 4:30 p.m..

"When a coach can brag about their whole men's team achieving a career-best, there isn't much more to say!," explained third-year head coach Catherine Hanson afterwards.  "Darren found his confidence and laid it out there and went for it.  He pulled Sean right along with him who now holds the fourth-fastest time at Longwood.  My third runner, Robert, also had a best and ran the exact race I asked him to.  I am very pleased with how the men raced, when you lack the size and depth, one hopes for personal achievements for these young men and they got it done.

"The meet was a terrific day for me as a coach.  It is just one of those days when all the stars are aligned and things go the way they should."

Simpson placed 42nd among the 125 collegiate runners and was followed by freshman Sean Flynn/Goodview (Roanoke Catholic) (26:32, 56th), along with sophomores Robert Webb/Williamsburg (Lafayette) (26:44, 62nd), Alex Strittmater/Haymarket (Battlefield) (27:12, 71st), and Justin Cooke/Chesterfield (Manchester) (27:37, 79th).  Also running was senior Gerard Shaber/Richmond (Mills E. Godwin) (28:58. 101st).  In addition to Simpson -- Flynn, Webb, Strittmater, and Shaber each ran new collegiate-best times as well for the program.  The only runner in the program's history to run faster was Adam Hutton (25:38) during 2005.