The Freed-Hardeman University men’s and women’s cross country teams won the University of the Ozarks Invitational in Clarksville, Arkansas. The men’s team won with a score of 26. Second-place Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) University earned 36 points and third-place University of the Ozarks (Ark.) 67 points. The women’s team tied for first with Ouachita Baptist, with each earning 34 points. The FHU women won the tie-breaker 3-2 over OBU for the win.
Ten total FHU runners beat their personal records and seemed to thrive in the cooler fall weather.
It was the first time Freed-Hardeman has participated at this meet and so the course was new to the runners. It was an open course with rolling hills and no trees, very spectator friendly. The men’s 8K race began at 10 a.m. and the women’s 5K at 11 a.m.
Teams competing included Ouachita Baptist, the University of the Ozarks, University of Arkansas–Rich Mountain, Philander Smith (Ark.) University, the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, LeMoyne-Owen (Tenn.) College, Henderson State (Ark.) University, Williams Baptist (Ark.) University, and National Park (Ark.) College.
The women’s team was first of eight teams. The top five finishers were Madison Grant, Zena Dorris, Megan Lampley, Eliza Poe, and Zola Dorris. This race marks the first time Freed has ever had four girls finish in under 20 minutes in the same race. Addi Burchett, Zena Dorris, Zola Dorris, Bekah Edwards, Madison Grant, Megan Lampley, and Elizabeth McKeeby set new personal records.
When results were first released, the women’s team was tied with Ouachita Baptist. When the tiebreaker was tallied, Freed-Hardeman was declared the winner 3-2. To break a tie in a cross country race, each of the tied teams’ five scorers’ place finishes are compared to see which finished ahead of the other. Here is how this played out at Ozarks:
FHU #1 Madison Grant, first place vs. OBU’s #1 runner, third place: FHU wins.
FHU #2 Zena Dorris, fifth place vs. OBU’s #2 runner, fourth place: OBU wins.
FHU #3 Megan Lampley, sixth place vs. OBU’s #3 runner, eighth place: FHU wins.
FHU #4 Eliza Poe, seventh place vs. OBU’s #4 runner, ninth place: FHU wins.
FHU #5 Zola Dorris, 15th place vs. OBU’s #5 runner, 10th place: OBU wins.
Tiebreaker final tally: FHU 3, OBU 2. FHU wins race.
Senior Madison Grant finished the women’s race as FHU’s top runner, recording the fastest 5K time any Freed-Hardeman woman has ever run. She was the second overall finisher in first place of all attached runners, meaning that the overall winner of the race was not a member of any team. Unattached runners do not receive a score; thus, Grant’s score is one since she was the highest finishing attached runner.
About the race, Grant stated, “I was worried about the course while running it the day before, but I ended up enjoying it. A fair amount of the course was downhill, and it felt especially good to run in cooler weather. I felt great and tried to maintain my pace as best I could for the second and third miles. Our training is kicking in, and I am excited to continue racing, as we’ll soon move up to the 6K distance.” Senior Addi Burchett beat her personal record in the final 5K of her college career and commented, “It was the perfect way to end my 5K career, and what made it even better was to see the whole team’s hard work paying off! Natty type day!” By “natty type day” Burchett refers to the team’s aim for qualifying for the NAIA national championships, their yearly aspiration encouraged most heartily by senior Micheal Rolen.
The men’s team placed first out of seven teams. All top five scorers for the men’s team were in the top ten finishers of the race. These top scorers were Bo Scott, Daniel Puckett, Drew Williams, Blake Brown, and Barrett Poe, in that order. Scott finished in second place overall. He stated, “It was an exciting race as the team had never raced here before. It was a fun course that was very different from what we have been used to. Leading the race for the first 3.75 miles was not my original plan, but it worked out in the end for a huge PR. I couldn’t be any more proud of this team and all they did leading to two wins today.” Freshman Daniel Puckett added, “Today was a fantastic day for the team. The weather was great which led to many people running their personal bests. Also, it was really great to see the boys and girls team getting a win on the same day!”
Coach Derrick Spradlin commented upon the race saying, “Clarksville was one of those days when a lot of things fell into place really well for us. Bo, Daniel, Barrett, and Drew just keep on having strong runs. They’re consistently improving. And then Blake had by far his best race of the season. On the girls’ side, Zena and Addi ran better than they have for a long time. They did great, as did Megan, Eliza, Bekah, and Elizabeth. Zola had a real breakout run. And with Madison, after the great track season she had in the spring, I knew she was capable of running a time like she did today. And she did it running without any other girls around her. With the women tying with Ouachita and winning the tie, it just shows how important it is to finish ahead of as many other runners as possible, and they did that today. Overall, just a fun day, and a very successful day.”
