Lady Lions XC finish runner-up
at Conference Championship
The cross-country teams competed at the Mid-South Conference Championship races on November 8, with a chance to qualify for the NAIA National Championships. The races took place at Phil Moore Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The men started the day with the 8k race beginning at 10 a.m. Daniel Puckett and Barrett Poe were able to earn Second Team All-Conference honors by placing in the top 14. Puckett placed 12th with a time of 25:55, and Poe placed 14th with a time of 26:06. Drew Williams was the third finisher for the Lions in 25th place with a time of 26:46. Bo Scott and Andrew Wrenn also contributed scoring points for the Lions with a 35th and 41st place finish respectively. They ended the race with a team score of 115, giving them a fourth-place finish. Grant O’Neal, Tristan Pharr, and Haden Bland all finished the season with a PR. The women’s race started at 11 a.m. and ended with a team runner-up finish. Mary Pearce, Zena Dorris, and Eliza Poe all earned Second Team All-Conference honors and all placed PRs. Pearce had a top-10 finish with a time of 22:36 for a ninth place finish. Dorris finished in 11th place with a time of 22:39, and then Poe finished right behind her in 12th place in 22:43. Megan Lampley finished fourth for the Lady Lions in 22nd place, and then Sydney Perkins was the fifth finisher in 28th place. The Lady Lions had a team score of 72 points, edging out Cumberland University by six points for the runner-up finish. The final rankings for the top 25 will be released November 12. The team bids for the NAIA National Championship race will be determined based on those rankings, as well as the individual bids. As of now, Mary Pearce, Eliza Poe, Zena Dorris, Daniel Puckett, and Barrett Poe all have a chance to qualify for Nationals.
Lady Lions end regular season
2024’s regular season is now in the rearview mirror and the Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions will prepare for the Mid-South Conference tournament after a 6-0 loss to the (RV) Bethel University Lady Wildcats. The first 20 minutes passed with no score until the Lady Lions (4-13-0, 0-7-0 MSC) fell behind with a Bethel goal at 19:44. A flurry of goals stunned FHU after the Lady Wildcats netted goals in the 36th, 38th, and 40th minute to take a 4-0 lead into the intermission. Bethel (9-6-0, 4-3-0 MSC) added two more goals in the second frame in the 64th and 88th minutes. Hadley Husband had the best chance for Freed-Hardeman with a shot at 79:09 that was saved.
Three Lady Lions selected as All-Conference
The Mid-South Conference released the 2024 post-season awards for volleyball and three Lady Lions were honored. Alyssa Austin, Charley Fulton, and Alanys Ruíz Rivera were all chosen to the second team. Alyssa Austin, a true freshman from Mesa, Arizona, began the season rotating in a three-setter system. Eventually earning a spot in a 5-1 rotation, Austin led the Lady Lions with 601 assists with an average of 6.01 per set played – the third-best average in the Mid-South Conference. Charley Fulton was selected on the back row for the second consecutive year. Collecting her 1,000th career dig against Georgetown, her season total of 423 digs was the third-most in the league. For the second year in a row Alanys Ruíz Rivera was chosen to the second team after tallying a team-high 271 kills. Consistently a strong attacker, Ruíz Rivera’s kills were at a .212 clip. Known for her all-around play, she had the third-most digs on the team with 201 – ending the regular season with seven kill/dig double-doubles.
The Lady Lions will take on the University of the Cumberlands in the opening round of the Mid-South Conference tournament on November 7 at 3 p.m.
