KERNERSVILLE, N.C. – In the first 6K of her collegiate career, Longwood freshman Casey Williams clocked a top team finish in a personal-record pace to lead the Lancer cross country squad at the High Point VertCross Invitational Friday afternoon at Beeson Park.
 
Williams was Longwood's top women's finisher for the second straight race, turning in a time of 26:16.03 on the 6K course at a personal-best 7:02.7 minutes-per-mile pace. That is the fastest pace by a Longwood women's runner this season and bests her previous 5K rates of 7:11.6 at the 5K Big South Preview Meet on Sept. 16 and 7:27.4 at the 5K JMU Invitational on Sept. 9.
 
"Today was exciting considering it was my first 6K," Williams said. "I felt really good throughout the race, and it felt great to get back to racing after a couple weeks without a meet. I'm really looking forward to our conference meet in two weeks and hope to have a huge PR."
 
Williams, a product of Nansemond River High School in Suffolk, Va., has now improved her per-mile times in each of the first three races of her young career. Her 111th-place individual finish at the 15-team VertCross Invitational Friday was Longwood's best, coming in ahead of the remainder of Longwood's top three, Miranda Wilson, who took 124th with a 27:50.99, and Kasey Laign, whose 27:58.84 earned her the 126th spot.
 
"The women ran their first 6K down and learned that extra thousand can really hit you hard," said Longwood head coach Catherine Hanson. "All my men's runners had personal bests at the 8K distance, so that's a pretty good day."
 
Another freshman led the Longwood men, as perennial team frontrunner Jon Swartout earned his second straight top team finish with a 29:06.01 on the 8K course, earning him a 108th-place finish. That time was more than two-and-a-half minutes faster than his last 8K venture and marked the second time this season he has broken the six-minute-per-mile pace, the last time coming in his debut at the 5K Hokie Invitational.
 
Junior John Bapties followed Swartout in 116th place, logging a personal-best 30:35.44, followed by the team's third-place finisher Ron Gyamfi, whose personal-best 31:47.76 was good enough for 119th.
 
Friday's race also marked the debut of several new Lancer harriers, as four members of the Longwood men's soccer team became temporary dual-sport athletes on loan from head men's soccer coach Jon Atkinson's squad. Leading that group was freshman defender Jake Baker, whose cross country debut time of 34:40.13 placed him 127th in the field. He edged fellow footballer Chase Quinn, who placed 129th, to finish fourth on the Lancer leaderboard.
 
The race is the final tune-up for Longwood cross country before the Big South Championship, which takes place Saturday, Oct. 28, down the road in Lynchburg, Va.
 
High Point VertCross XC Invitational
Oct. 13, 2017
Kernersville, N.C. (Beeson Park)
 
Longwood Women's Individual Results (6K – 141 participants)
111. Casey Williams (26:16.03)
124. Miranda Wilson (27:50.99)
126. Kasey Laign (27:58.84)
132. M.E. Lazorchak (29:47.11)
133. Madison Winters (29:51.93)
 
Women's Team Results
1. High Point (22:13.39 – 62 points)
2. Appalachian State (22:22.93 – 68 points)
3. East Tennessee State (22:28.47 – 73 points)
4. Furman (22:34.37 – 83 points)
5. Wofford (22:49.80 – 129 points)
6. Marshall (23:42.64 – 198 points)
7. UNC Wilmington (24:08.14 – 235 points)
8. VMI (24:02.93 – 236 points)
9. Radford (24:13.11 – 241 points)
10. Coastal Carolina (24:21.40 – 244 points)
11. North Carolina A&T (24:30.24 – 262 points)
12. Charleston Southern (24:53.82 – 297 points)
13. Winston-Salem State (26:28.29 – 379 points)
14. Meredith (26:51.79 — 400 points)
15. Longwood (28:20.98 – 438 points)
16. William Peace (37:47.46 – 490 points)
 
Longwood Men's Individual Results (8K – 138 participants)
108. Jon Swartout (29:06.01)
116. John Bapties (30:35.54)
119. Ron Gyamfi (31:47.76)
127. Jake Baker (34:40.13)
129. Chase Quinn (34:43.62)
131. Chrishon Dollard (35:02.04)
133. Marcel Guzman (35:45.82)
134. Luke Aholt (36:56.85)
135. Sam Behans (36:56.97)
 
Men's Team Results
1. Furman (25:13.33 – 56 points)
2. East Tennessee State (25:21.47 – 70 points)
3. Appalachian State (25:45.06 – 108 points)
4. Charleston Southern (25:45.43 – 114 points)
5. Marshall (26:14.89 – 168 points)
6. High Point (26:13.98 – 181 points)
7. VMI (26:23.34 – 185 points)
8. Coastal Carolina (26:18.32 – 200 points)
9. Radford (26:48.85 – 242 points)
10. North Carolina A&T (27:07.07 – 278 points)
11. Elon (27:04.00 – 283 points)
12. Wofford (27:13.52 – 299 points)
13. UNC Wilmington (28:36.82 – 346 points)
14. Coker (29:04.93 – 401 points points)
15. Longwood (32:10.62 – 479 points)
16. Winston-Salem State (34:07.16 – 503 points)
17. William Peace (35:46.59 – 525 points)
 
#GoWood