RICHMOND, Va. – Talk about building on momentum from a season ago.
 
Coming off the team's top finish in the Big South in team history last year, the Lancer men's cross country team posted plenty of personal bests and strong times to open the 2024 campaign at the Spider Alumni Open 6K on Saturday morning.
 
Ben Goulet topped the list after tearing off a program-best time in the race, a 19:09 that saw him finish 33^rd in the 162 runner field. He broke the record set by Jordyn Dillavou last season by 21 seconds. Goulet now holds two of the top 10 times in program history.
 
The Lancers finished ninth out of 14 squads and were just 22 points behind VCU and 24 behind George Mason.
 
NOTABLE RESULTS
 
In addition to Goulet's scorching time, which was one of the top 6K times in the Big South so far this weekend, four other Lancers ran personal best marks. Dillavou, while not running his personal best time, did break 20 minutes for a second straight year in the race.
 
Dillavou finished 68^th with the second-best time on the Lancers, a 19:58.5, which is the fifth fastest mark in program history.
 
Saad Khan and Clinton Clancy finished scant seconds behind Dillavou with their best times. Khan was 70^th with a 20:01.7, and Clancy clocked a 20:03.2 that also was his personal best.
 
Khan's time came in as the seventh-fastest time in team history, eclipsing his previous best by 15 seconds. Clancy tied for the eighth fastest time, and he shaved four seconds off his personal best in the process.
 
Alec Daniel set a personal best with a 20:13.8 to finish 79^th as Longwood's fifth and final scoring runner.
 
Bryce Christian knocked a whopping two minutes off his personal best time, posting a 21:41.7.

WHAT THEY SAID:

"The big talk we had with the men going into this season was that the job is not done," said Longwood Director of Cross Country and Track Brooke Craig. "We have our first big class of seniors, and they have been on a mission to show what Longwood can do since their freshman year. This was exactly how we talked about them starting the year."

"Ben has been putting in the groundwork for this since his freshman year," Craig said about Goulet's record-setting day. "If he isn't on your radar, he should be now."
 
FULL RESULTS:
Team
8. Longwood: 28-48-49-51-53(65)(66)
 
Individual
33. Ben Goulet: 19:09
68. Jordyn Dillavou: 19:58.5
70. Saad Khan: 20:01.7
72. Clinton Clancy: 20:03.2
79. Alec Daniel: 20:13.8
100. Misha Wiley: 21:05.9
101. Javier Roldan: 21:06.9
113. Bryce Christian: 21:41.7
117. Christian Reid: 21:55.9
123. Josh Martin: 22:21.2
128. Kadin Nitsch: 22:40.4
152. Andrew Bernhardt: 24:42.1
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood hosts the Lancer Home Open on Saturday, September 7. The race will serve as Senior Day for the team.
 
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