Full Results: Big South Cross Country Championships (PDF)

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Coming on the heels of the best performance of her career, Longwood's Gracie Piekarski blew away her 5K personal best for the second straight race by clocking an 18:37.98 at the Big South Cross Country Championships Saturday at the Roger Milliken Center.
 
Piekarski's sub-19-minute performance was a 29-second improvement on the personal record she set just two weeks ago at the Cross Country Only Invitational in Richmond, Va., and netted the Lancer junior 13th place in the Big South Championship women's run. Piekarski, who has shaved a combined 1:27 off her best 5K time over the past two races, helped push Longwood to a 10th-place finish while also taking home Big South All-Academic Team honors at the conference's premier cross country event.
 
Alongside Piekarski, men's senior Russell Reed also earned a Big South All-Academic Team award in his final conference championship. The ace of the Lancer men's squad, Reed gutted out a 30th-place finish Saturday with a time of 26:38.33 despite running almost the entire race on a sprained ankle. Reed, who was in pursuit of breaking Longwood's 8K school record to go with his already held 5K record, turned his ankle at the one-mile mark on the Spartanburg course but grinded through the injury to cross the line as Longwood's top finisher for the fifth consecutive race.
 
"Today really exemplifies what Longwood is about in terms of being a family and being there for each other," said ninth-year Longwood head coach Catherine Hanson.
 
"Both teams faced adversity today, and both pushed through as a unit. The boys stepped up and raced really well, finishing in ninth place with just three guys up front. Russell rolled his ankle early but still ran a tremendous time with what we think is a pretty severe sprain."
 
Reed's 30th-place effort, along with a 46th-place finish from Leon Beard and a 52nd-place result from Johnny Leder, propelled Longwood to ninth place in the team standings with a three-point lead on 10th-place Gardner-Webb.
 
The women, meanwhile, rode Piekarski's career-best time to a 10th-place team finish, edging 11th-place Charleston Southern by two points despite racing without No. 2 Kelsey Peace who missed the event due to injury.
 
"Gracie ran a career best at 18:38, which is one of our program's fastest 5Ks and right up there with Alisha Royal," Hanson said. "Sarah Kasko, our team manager, made it through the course with extreme asthma, which allowed us a team finish."
 
Piekarski's time was the eighth fastest 5K finish in Longwood women's cross country history, trailing six finishes by Lancer 6K and 5K record holder Royal and another by 4K record holder Kristin Novara. Her performance marked the first time in her three-year career she broke the 19-minute mark.
 
The Lancers now have two weeks to prepare for the NCAA Southeast Regional run, which takes place in Charlottesville, Va., on Nov. 13. Prior that event, Longwood will race in the 3 Stripe Red-Shirt Cross Country Invitational hosted by NC State on Nov. 7.
 
2015 Big South Cross Country Championships
October 31, 2015
Spartanburg, S.C. (Roger Milliken Center)
 
Men's Individual Results (8K – 78 entries)
30. Russell Reed (26:38.33)
46. Leon Beard (27:28.21)
52. Johnny Leder (27:51.07)
65. Andrew Lanier (29:51.88)
76. John Bapties (32:16.19)
 
Men's Team Results
1. Campbell (24:36.81 – 31 points)
2. Liberty (24:58.58 – 42 points)
3. High Point (25:02.12 – 48 points)
4. Radford (26:25.62 – 120 points)
5. UNC Asheville (26:43.57 – 137 points)
6. Winthrop (28:07.12 – 216 points)
7. Coastal Carolina (28:07.31 – 218 points)
8. Presbyterian (28:19.72 – 228 points)
9. Longwood (28:49.13 – 240 points)
10. Gardner-Webb (28:19.71 – 243 points)
11. Charleston Southern (30:38.86 – 309 points)
 
Women's Individual Results (5K – 86 entries)
13. Gracie Piekarski (18:37.98)
78. Erica Mawyer (23:09.42)
81. Anna Butrowicz (23:31.41)
83. Judy May (24:44.58)
86. Sarah Kasko (35:08.66)
 
Women's Team Results
 
1. High Point (18:06.86 – 47 points)
2. Coastal Carolina (17:56.99 – 51 points)
3. Liberty (18:15.80 – 58 points)
4. UNC Asheville (18:52.15 – 108 points)
5. Radford (19:14.93 – 157 points)
6. Campbell (19:28.19 – 174 points)
7. Winthrop (19:50.56 – 199 points)
8. Gardner-Webb (19:57.40 – 203 points)
9. Presbyterian (20:45.16 – 268 points)
10. Longwood (25:02.41 – 293 points)
11. Charleston Southern (22:11.55 – 295 points)
 
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