Freed-Hardeman competes in Firehawk Invitational

On Friday, October 20, the Freed-Hardemen men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Firehawk Invitational at McFarland Park in Florence, Alabama, hosted by UT Southern. McFarland Park has been a favorite race site for FHU runners, and certainly runners from many other schools, in recent years due to its flat and well-maintained course.
The men’s race distance was the traditional 8000 meters; however, the women raced 6000 meters, instead of the regular 5000. This season is the first in which the NAIA women’s national championship race and all conference women’s championship races will be a distance of 6000 meters, instead of 5000. This change has led to some practice changes this season, as the women are training mentally and physically for an additional .72 mile in the championship races.
In spite of their inexperience with the 6K distance, the Freed-Hardeman women finished third of seven teams. The five scorers for the women were Madison Grant (3rd place overall), Megan Lampley (8th place), Eliza Poe (14th), Zena Dorris (16th), and Zola Dorris (24th).
NCAA D1 school Jacksonville State (Ala.) University came in first place. The University of Tennessee Southern came in second place, beating FHU by only one point, 63 to 64. Grant was the top non-D1 runner in the race, as only two women, both from Jacksonville State, finished ahead of her. Grant also set a new program record time for a cross country 6K, with a time of 22:28.
Of the eleven Freed women who ran, only four had raced a 6K prior to Firehawk, and three of those four set PRs today: Madison Grant, Allison Walker, and Isabella Minor. Walker stated, “The Florence race is always a really pretty race, the scenery definitely makes it more enjoyable. We were all a bit nervous as it was the first 6K of the season, but looking back now I am very proud of our performance this past Friday. I was very happy that I set a new personal record for the 6K along with several other girls. I owe it all to the support of my Freed-Hardeman team!”
Coach Derrick Spradlin said about the women’s race: “The girls ran well today. It was the first ever 6K for most of them and the first one in two years for the others. Today should give them some confidence for the 6K distance at conference in a couple of weeks. Madison continued a streak of several really strong races in a row. She basically ran this one by herself since there were huge gaps between each of the top four women in the race for the whole second half of the race. Our two, three, and four girls stayed in a tight pack through a lot of the race. Zola, our fifth girl, keeps getting better with every race and has had a strong freshman season.
The Freed-Hardeman men’s team placed second of eight teams. A total of 69 men finished the race. FHU’s five scorers, in order, were: Daniel Puckett (9th place overall), Bo Scott (10th place), Barrett Poe (11th), Drew Williams (16th), and Blake Brown (25th). Poe, Williams, Brock Windham, and Dany Douglas all set new personal record times.
First place in the men’s race was NCAA D1 Jacksonville State University. FHU beat former Mid-South Conference rivals UT Southern and Life (Ga.) University.
Commenting on the race, Florence native Windham stated, “I think our team had a really good showing this weekend, the guys team got 2nd and girls got 3rd with several PRs and season best times from the team. For me it was really special being on my ‘home’ course with my family and friends there to support me. I’m really thankful for all of them and everything they’ve done to get me to this point. To me it kinda felt like a family reunion having my blood family and my Freed family all there together. I’m so thankful God has blessed me with this experience and with so many great people to experience it with. I could not be more proud of the team!”
Freshman Barrett Poe added, “The guys did great this weekend. It was the first race in Freed’s history where the top five averaged under 27 minutes. I am extremely happy with how everything is starting to click at just the right time for conference.”
The next race for the Freed-Hardeman cross country teams will be the Mid-South Conference championships in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Friday, November 3.