Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational: Men's Results (8K)
Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational: Women's Results (6K)

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Racing against a field that included the No. 25 Florida State men and others receiving votes in the USTFCCCA Coaches Poll, Longwood men's runner Russell Reed and women's runner Gracie Piekarski both recorded personal bests at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational Friday evening on the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course.
 
Reed, the reigning Big South Runner of the Week following a second-place finish at last week's Coastal Carolina Invitational, clocked a 26:21.74 on the 8,000-meter course to place 66th out of 140. The 6-0 native of Onema, Va., beat all eight runners from Big South rival Radford en route to earning Longwood's top finish for the second straight race.
 
Piekarski, meanwhile, also notched her second straight top team finish with a 23:56.12 to take 62nd out of 118 on the women's 6,000-meter portion of the course. The Longwood men also received a 74th-place effort from Nick Reed, a former runner and current Longwood undergraduate coach, who clocked a 26:31.73 while running unattached.
 
Those individual performances came against a group of teams that on both the men's and women's sides included Florida State, which won the women's race and placed second in the men's, Akron, which won the men's race, host and USTFCCCA votes-getter Virginia Tech, Ohio, Cincinnati and VMI, among others.
 
"It was a really good day for our team," said Longwood head coach Catherine Hanson. "We faced some really high-level competition and held our own. To be in the mix competing against so many great programs and to have the performances we had today speaks to the dedication of this group. They really pushed through a difficult situation, running on a new course and doing it next to some very big names."
 
The race marked the first time any Lancer on the roster stepped foot on the Buford Meredith Course in Blacksburg. The Longwood men shared a starting box with the 25th-ranked Seminoles and from there produced the Reeds' two top-75 finishes as well as finishes just outside the top 100 from Johnny Leder (103rd, 27:39.38) and Leon Beard (105th, 27:46.94).
 
"I just told everyone we needed to take it out smart because there would be a lot of big names at the race," said Russell Reed, Longwood's lone senior. "I said we would just have to go mile-by-mile and build and just run our race. Everybody seemed to do that well, and we turned it into a really good race."
 
Sophomore Kelsey Peace was Longwood's second finisher on the women's side for the second straight race, placing 107th with a time of 26:42.50.
 
Longwood will continue a gauntlet of four straight race weeks next Friday, Sept. 25, at the Charlotte Cross Country Invitational in Greensboro, N.C. That race precedes the Hagan Stone Invitational, also in Greensboro, before the Lancers get an off weekend to prepare for the Richmond-hosted Cross Country Only Invitational on Oct. 17.
 
Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational
September 18, 2015
Blacksburg, Va. (Buford Meredith Cross Country Course)
 
Longwood Men's Individual Results (8K – 140 Entries)
66. Russell Reed (26:21.74)
74. Nick Reed (26:31.73)* UNATTACHED
103. John Leder (27:39.38)
105. Leon Beard (27:46.94)
127. Marc Mawyer (29:34.00)
137. Andrew Lanier (30:50.17)
139. John Bapteis (32:21.38)
 
Men's Team Results
1. Akron (25:02.94)
2. No. 26 Florida State (25:04.24)
3. (RV) Virginia Tech (25:23.48)
4. Cincinnati (25:33.15)
5. VMI (25:36.37)
6. Ohio (25:40.90)
7. ETSU (25:41.21)
8. Indiana (Pa.) (25:50.78)
9. Kent State (26:27.02)
10. Lynchburg (26:44.33)
11. King (27:19.80)
12. Longwood (28:26.45)
 
Longwood Women's Individual Results (6K – 118 Entries)
62. Gracie Piekarski (23:56.12)
107. Kelsey Peace (26:42.50)
116. Anna Butrowicz (29:28.90)
117. Erica Mawyer (29:38.06)
118. Judy May (32:24.00)
 
Women's Team Results
1. (RV) Florida State (21:33.86)
2. Ohio (22:01.28)
3. Virginia Tech (22:25.30)
4. Kent State (23:02.33)
5. Akron (23:19.03)
6. Cincinnati (23:32.87)
7. ETSU (24:18.85)
8. Radford (24:27.35)
9. Indiana (Pa.) (24:26.94)
10. VMI (25:12.45)
11. King (26:01.28)
12. Lynchburg (26:01.70)
13. Longwood (28:25.92)
 
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