Longwood University Athletics

FARMVILLE, Va. – Despite the postponement of their fall season, the Longwood men's and women's cross country programs are still finding ways to compete and breaking personal bests along the way.
 
In a virtual 3,200-meter race with Big South rival Winthrop that saw eight Longwood runners set PRs, the Lancers and Eagles shared wins with the Longwood women pulling out a 36-20 victory and the Winthrop men countering with a 29-19 victory.
 
"When the fall season got canceled, we reached out to my former college coach at Winthrop, Ben Paxton, to see if they would be interested in a virtual competition," said Longwood head coach Brooke Craig, who was an All-Big South runner at Winthrop from 2005-09. "I didn't want our team's training this fall to go unrewarded, so this became a great opportunity to test their fitness against another team in our conference."
 
Fourteen Longwood runners took part in the competition, which the Lancers ran at the Prince Edward County Public Schools track in Farmville. The Longwood women's trio of senior Casey Williams, sophomore Grace Puleo and freshman Caroline Fairbanks swept the top three spots in the 14-runner field, while Williams and Puleo joined freshmen Bailey Deaver, Caroline Fritz and Aislinn Garcia in setting personal bests.
 
Williams dominated the race from start to finish and finished with a first-place PR of 11:22. Puleo's 11:41 placed her in second and was a PR as well, while Fairbanks ran an 11:49 to place third overall, and freshmen teammates Deaver (12:36) and Fritz (13:08) followed in fifth and eighth place. Junior Maddie Foster clocked a 13:27 to finish 11th, senior Diana Smith ran a 13:54 to place 12th and the freshman Garcia rounded out Longwood's eight-runner contingent in 13th place with a personal-best 13:58.
 
On the men's side, Longwood's top three finishers all ran PRs of their own with sophomore Sam Sager leading the Lancer pack in third place overall with a personal-best 9:59. Sager was one of only three runners in the 14-runner field to break the 10-minute mark and did so after a late-race kick in which he outpaced fellow Lancer sophomore Shahmique Cromwell in the final 200 meters. 
 
Cromwell, whose 10:08 was a PR and earned him a sixth-place finish overall. Junior Nicholas Howell followed with a PR 10:21 in seventh place ahead of classmate Zachary Lam (10:27), who placed ninth, and freshmen Campbell Collett (10:40) and Trey Smith-Tatham (10:46) in 11th and 13th place.
 
"I had expectations for how well we would do, but we exceeded them," Craig said. "Over half of both teams ran personal-bests. This entire fall, they have continued to surpass the bar I set for them. Despite the absence of our season, they've put in a lot of work and have been reaping the benefits with our intrasquad series and our virtual race yesterday.
 
"We will finish up our intrasquad series next Saturday on our home ocurse, and I know we will see some solid performances across the board. This team is special, and I'm looking forward to seeing what they will do when competition returns."
 
Longwood Vs. Winthrop Virtual Race
October 13, 2020
Farmville, Va. (Prince Edward County Track)
 
Women's 3,200m (Longwood Results Only)
1 (1). Casey Williams (11:22)
2 (2). Grace Puleo (11:41)
3 (3). Caroline Fairbanks (11:49)
5 (4). Bailey Deaver (12:36)
8 (5). Caroline Fritz (13:08)
11 (6). Maddie Foster (13:27)
12 (7). Diana Smith (13:54)
13 (8). Aislinn Garcia (13:58)
 
Men's 3,200m (Longwood Results Only)
3 (1). Sam Sager (9:59)
6 (2). Shahmique Cromwell (10:08)
7 (3). Nicholas Howell (10:21)
9 (4). Zachary Lam (10:27)
11 (5). Campbell Collett (10:40)
13 (6). Trey Smith-Tatham (10:46)
 
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