The Flames placed fourth and the Lady Flames were ninth at the Sand Shark Invitational Saturday morning. The 37-team invitational was hosted by the University of South Carolina Beaufort at Sgt. Jasper Park.
Both Lee squads will be back in action on November 8 when they travel to Hoover, Ala., for the Gulf South Conference Championship.
Harold Smith set a new school record and became the first Lee runner to finish in less than 25 minutes. His time of 24:58.26 put him in 15th out of 303. Geoffrey Kipchumba of William Carey University was first across the line at 24:28.43.
Seth Eagleson and Tyler Boone gave the Flames three runners in the top 20 at 19th and 20th, respectively. Eagleson registered a time of 25:07.76 and Boone recorded a mark of 25:08.41.
“Our freshman duo of Smith and Eagleson continue to lead the way for our team,” said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan. “Boone stepped up for us as our No. 3 and ran a 44-second personal best.”
Terris Elliott and Emmanuel Kipchumba rounded out Lee’s top-five scorers. Elliott was 31st (25:34.37) and Kipchumba was 41st (25:42.06).
“We are really good through our No. 3 man right now, but need for our fourth and fifth to drop time going into the conference championships if we want to pull the upset over Alabama Huntsville,” added Morgan.
Joseph Crook crossed the finish line at 25:48.15 (49th), Camden Perez was 55th (26:04.72) and Adam Gullette was 99th (27:07.72). Nick Eckert was right behind at 101st (27:08.02), while Alex Carter was 151st (28:12.94). Matt Jenkins ran unattached and placed 91st (26:56.91).
Tennessee Wesleyan College (ranked No. 8 in NAIA) was the men’s 8K winner. The NAIA’s third-ranked Eagles of Embry-Riddle (Fla.) were second with 102 points, while Saint Leo University was third (103 points). The Flames posted a score of 125.
“Our men are getting better every race,” said Morgan. “We really wanted to beat No. 3 in the South Region Saint Leo, but fell a little short. They should move up in the rankings this week.”
In the women’s 5K, SCAD Savannah was the race winner with 53 points. Saint Leo was second (118) and North Georgia was third (123). The Lady Flames tallied a total of 285 points.
“Our women’s team exceeded expectations today and cracked into the top 10,” said Morgan.
“We have made significant strides over the last three weeks and are coming together at the right time.”
Jessica Childers was Lee’s top women’s performer with an 11th-place finish out of 347 runners. Childers recorded a time of 18:12.71. Jessy Scarpone of SCAD Savannah had winning time of 17:30.02.
“Childers ran a fantastic race and set a personal best by 42 seconds,” added Morgan. “She is definitely setting herself up to be an NCCAA All-American contender this year.”
Elizabeth Sillcocks was 26th (18:45.20) and Audrey Smith was 69th (19:36.10. Lauren Hart and Emily Bryan were the Lady Flames’ fourth and fifth runners across the finish line. Hart had a time of 19:55.46 (87th) and Bryan’s mark of 20:09.20 put her in 106th.
Danielle King finished 192nd (21:30.42) and Madison Riddle was 252nd (22:33.24). Amy Carpenter ran unattached and finished 37th with a time of 19:04.52.
“We expect our women to keep improving as we move into our championship season. I am very proud of what they have accomplished thus far,” summed up Morgan.