FARMVILLE, Va. – Sophie Farley leveled up. Again.
 
The sophomore broke the team 5K record, again, while recording the highest individual finish in team history at the Big South Championship this morning.
 
NOTEABLE RESULTS:
 
Finishing in third place with a time of 17:34.5, Farley shaved four seconds off her previous top time of 17:38.8 from the Upstate Invite just two weeks ago, and she did so on a challenging Lancer course that has multiple hills.
 
This marks the third time this season that Farley has broken not only her own record but also set a top time for the program's 5K.
 
She did so behind a furious kick to the finish line to break up High Point's top three runners that earned her First Team All-Big South honors. She became the first runner in team history to finish in the top three after finishing 10th last season as a freshman.
 
Freshman Sydney O'Hara-Wood also tore off a personal best with a time of 18:40.9, knocking 10 seconds off her previous best and finishing 22^nd overall.
 
Junior Kirsten Morley was the team's third scorer, finishing 30^th overall with a time of 19:04.9, and senior Lanie Grogg finished 34^th overall as the team's fourth scorer with a time of 19:10.2. Grogg also earned a spot on the Big South All-Academic Team after the race.
 
Junior Sam Bolen powered her way home just behind Grogg to finish 35^th with a time of 19:13.4. She shaved off 14 seconds from her 19:27.1 finish at the Upstate Invite.
 
Sophomore Madison Davis finished with a time of 19:20.1 to finish 40^th place overall, and freshman Riley Humphries ran a 19:47.4 to finish 51^st overall.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
"We had big goals going into this race; the women knew going in that they could score anywhere from second to fifth", said Head Coach Brooke Craig. "They had a really good strategy, and they went for it. We knew around the 3K mark that it was going to have to take a really good 2K for us to move up any further. I know that they left it all out there in the last 2k. They all made up some spots, but it just wasn't quite enough. This was the lowest score we've had on the women's side, but that's the thing each year, we've just made bigger and bigger strides, and I think now we're at a point where we're making some tiny strides and we're close to a breakthrough."
 
"Sophie ran an excellent race", said Craig about the sophomore. "She followed her race plan to a T. She was fifth when we got out of the pond with about 1k left and I told her that her secret weapon is her grit and that's what got her to third."
 
"The best part about our team right now is that we are returning all but two," said Craig about senior Lanie Grogg and graduate student Nicole Pinder. "I'm forever grateful to Lanie and Nicole for building the squads. When they both entered this program, we were still in the bottom of the conference, and they got us to fifth and they're leaving it better off."
 
FULL RESULTS:
 
1. High Point: 1-2-4-5-8(21)(36)—20
2. UNC Asheville: 7-9-11-17-18(23)(25)—62
3. Radford: 6-15-20-24-29(31)(32)—94
4. Charleston Southern: 10-16-26-27-28(37)(43)—107
5. Longwood: 3-22-30-34-35(39)(45)—124
6. Gardner-Webb: 13-14-42-46-50(51)(54)—165
7. Winthrop: 19-33-38-40-48(58)—178
8. USC Upstate: 12-41-44-47-53(56)(57)—197
9. Presbyterian: 49-52-55-59-60(61)—275
 
Individual (Longwood)
3. Sophie Farley: 17:34.5
22. Sydney O'Hara-Wood: 18:40.9
30. Kirsten Morley: 19:04.9
34. Lanie Grogg: 19:10.2
35. Sam Bolen: 19:13.4
40. Madison Davis: 19:20.1
51. Riley Humphries: 19:47.4
56. Priscilla Keller: 19:58.5
63. Nicole Pinder: 20:23.6
67. Ysabel Wells: 20:52.4
 
UP NEXT:        
The Lancers will travel to Charlottesville, Va., for the NCAA Southeast Regionals on Friday, Nov. 14.
 
#GoWood | #HorsePower