FARMVILLE, Va. – Longwood men's cross country showed plenty of grit in a hot, steamy morning at the Lancer Home Open, and a trio of freshman led the way as the men claimed the top spot.
 
Jaiden Santos-Nguyen, AJ Koval and Andrew Hathaway led the charge, finishing second through fourth in a grueling race that was the team's first 8K of the season.
 
The top three, coupled with strong pack running, allowed the Lancers to garner six of the top 10 spots in the race.
 
NOTABLE RESULTS:
 
Santos-Nguyen, a freshman, finished second, behind only Rodgers Korir from Virginia Union, with a 28:10.8 on a course that ran a little long on the day.
 
Koval, also a freshman, was nipping on his heels with a 28:22.6 to finish third, and Hathaway, who only ran track in the spring and did not compete in the fall, came in fourth with a 28:42.1.
 
Junior Clinton Clancy finished with a 29:16.9 for seventh, and freshman Andrew Rutherford was the team's fifth runner, finishing eighth with a 29:48.2.
 
Fellow freshman Louis Semtner was right behind Rutherford, posting a 29:56.7 to finish in ninth, while Sean Arjona was just outside the top 10 with a 30:03.0 to finish 11^th in the 36-runner field.
 
The young squad finished with 24 points, topping Hampton, Virginia Union and Hampden-Sydney.
 
WHAT THEY SAID:
 
"We went into this race with the strategy of keeping it easy the first two miles and then racing the last three," said Longwood Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Brooke Craig. "It was the first 8K of the season, and the first 8K for a lot of individuals. So we really wanted to go through the course and help them learn the distance. They ended up learning the distance and them some. This was a good workout, and they know the big times are going to be coming in October."
 
"Today the big mentality was running as a team, running as those packs," said senior, and team captain, Bryce Christian. "Pull some guys forward with the guys that are more willing to push the pace a little bit to bring along those guys who are a little more hesitant, to pull them forward and really work well together as a team. The pack mentality was the goal."
 
"We had a lot of guys right there," Christian said about how the team ran together well. "I was the 11^th, and I was number 20, so there weren't a whole lot of guys between me and the rest of my teammates up front, so I think that pack mentality is what we had. The first half of the race was to go out as a pack, and the last half was to race with all we had."
 
"I've been thinking about how I've been supporting the seniors throughout my time here, and then, today, it was really nice to see all the guys and girls come together and support us as well," Christian said about what the senior day celebration meant to him. "We have a small senior class this year, so everyone got individualized Thank You's from everyone, which was really nice to see, and it's always good to see everyone come together for one common goal. Today, that was to be supportive of us old guys."
 
"It's just about not settling," Christian said about the mentality of the team going forward. "Today was only the second race of the season, and that's why we wanted to make sure we were really running as a pack to push those forward that we know we can. We can't be complacent. We've got to keep moving forward and take today as another warmup before we get to conference, which is the real race."
 
"It's pack running, the same as the women," Craig added about the team's mentality and approach. "That's why they had different groups. We're going to focus on things like, for example, the group that is the top five. They all went out together for the first two miles, and once they took off, it was talking to each other and working up the hill. That's how we beat the schools that have been beating us the past few years in conference. It's going to be together. We just need to tighten our scoring average, one through five, to be within 15 seconds of each other."
 
"It was a hot day," Craig noted. "It was a really hot day by the time the guys raced, certainly hotter than last year, so I think mentally, it was tough for some, but they were all bought in and know that this was part of the process. It was a great day."
 
FULL RESULTS:
 
1. Longwood: 24—2-3-4-7-8(9)(11)
2. Hampton: 62—5-6-14-16-21
3. Virginia Union: 65—1-10-13-19-22(23)
4. Hampden-Sydney: 82—12-15-17-18-20(24)
 
Individual
2. Jaiden Santos-Nguyen: 28:10.8
3. AJ Koval: 28:22.6
4. Andrew Hathaway: 28:42.1
7. Clinton Clancy: 29:16.9
8. Andrew Rutherford: 29:48.2
9. Louis Semtner: 29:56.7
11. Sean Arjona: 30:03.0
13. Christian Reid: 30:22.8
15. Andrew Schaefer: 30:50.0
16. Daniel Duarte: 31:00.8
20. Bryce Christian: 32:00.5
21. Josh Martin: 32:05.2
 
UP NEXT:
 
Longwood returns to action in two weeks when the team hosts the Lancer Pink Invitational on Saturday, September 20. The men race at 9:30 a.m. at the Longwood Cross Country Course on Johnston Drive.
 
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