Cross-Country kicks off season at Memphis Twilight
By Dustin Semore
FHU Information Director
The men’s and women’s cross-country teams kicked off their season this past Saturday, August 31, in Memphis, Tenn. in the City Auto Memphis Twilight Cross Country Classic. Even though the race was not as big as normal, it was still filled with top level talent including runners from numerous NCAA Division I schools including University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, University of Memphis, Middle Tennessee State University, and others.
The women’s 5K race started at 9:20 p.m. and there were 108 runners in the field. Freshman Mary Pearce was the first Lady Lion to cross the finish line in 31st place with a time of 19:44. Junior Eliza Poe came in next for the Lady Lions ten spots behind Pearce with a time of 20:10. Megan Lampley followed Poe with a time of 20:40 good enough for a 52nd place finish, and Zena Dorris was right on her heels crossing just one spot and two seconds behind her for a 53rd place finish in 20:42. Freshman Sydney Perkins was the fifth runner for the Freed team as she came in with a time of 21:36 in 67th place. The team finished with a score of 208 to finish in eighth place out of 14 teams. The top five runner’s average time was 20:34, almost 30 seconds better from last year’s average time at this race. At 10 p.m., 134 runners took off from the starting line as the four-mile men’s race started.
The Lions were led by sophomore Daniel Puckett who crossed the finish line in 16th place with a time of 20:47. Barrett Poe was the next runner to finish for the Lions in 33rd place in 21:29. Bo Scott was the Lions’ third runner across with a time of 22:04, good enough for 57th place. Blake Brown and Drew Williams finished neck in neck in 72nd and 73rd place with times of 22:42 and 22:43, respectively. The men’s team also finished eighth place out of 13 teams with a team score of 203 points, with a top five average time of 21:57. The cross-country teams will continue their season at the Rhodes College Cross Country Invitational on September 21 in Memphis, Tenn.
Mahlaha’s pair of goals
lead to Lions win
The Freed-Hardeman University Lion soccer team continued their long homestand to open the 2024 campaign by hosting the Indiana University Columbus Crimson Pride on a rainy Sunday. A goal in the 86th minute by IUC forced the match to end in a 2-2 draw. The Lions (3-0-1) fell behind after an IUC flurry ended with a goal in the back of the net in the 18th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Not long after, Hugo Luque had quick thinking to collect a rebound after a shot from Noah Setterberg, gathering and firing to score the goal at 27:14 to tie the match 1-1. A late goal from Thabo Mahlaha put the Lions on top 2-1 when Mahlaha weaved through traffic into the left side of the box before changing directions to place it in the bottom-right of the net. At the half, the Lions held a 2-1 lead. The Lions maintained the offensive pressure in the first half, taking 14 shots. The second frame proved the more physical and defensive half with both teams tallying six shots. The biggest shots came for IU Columbus (2-0-1) when a deep shot was saved by the Lions, but a Crimson Pride member was there to clean up the rebound to score the equalizer for the final whistle to sound with the scores level 2-2.
Lady Lion volleyball splits Saturday matches
The Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions (3-5) opened up their second day of the FHU Labor Day classic with a gritty 3-2 loss against University of Pikeville (3-1) (Ky.) on Saturday in five sets (25-19, 20-25, 18-15, 25-18, 16-14).
After dropping the first set, Freed-Hardeman used a balanced offensive attack primarily off the swings of Audrey Orton and Alanys Ruiz Rivera.
The Lions gutted out a strong third set – aided by a stretch of four consecutive serves by Avery Harris to take and keep the lead for the rest of the third set. Pikeville answered back with a strong fourth set to force a tiebreaker. The Bears responded by taking the win in the fifth set.
Avery Young recorded 15 kills while Orton and Ruiz Rivera joined her in double figures. Similarly, Charley Fulton notched 26 digs on the defensive side, where she was joined by Ruiz Rivera and Autumn Howard with 11 and 10 digs, respectively. With a .261 hitting percentage, the Lady Lions had a better rating than UPIKE’s .244 but had trouble defending the serve of the Bears who notched 14 aces.
The Freed-Hardeman volleyball team (4-5) won its closing match of the FHU Labor Day Classic on Saturday evening with a 3-0 sweep over the University of Tennessee Southern (1-4). (25-16, 25-21, 28-26)
The Lions cruised in the first set, using excellent leadership and communication to take it to 25-16.
FHU and UTS traded runs in the second set, as the maroon and gold saw their early lead slip to a 17-16 deficit. Catherine Hackett, Avery Harris, Audrey Orton, and Avery Young played a crucial role combining for nine kills to get us out of the hole and earn the second set win.
A similar script followed in the third set, with Freed-Hardeman grabbing an early lead before the Fire Hawks held the advantage (23-22). FHU took the final points with kills from Alanys Ruiz Rivera, Morgan Jackson, and Orton.
From the service line, Ruiz Rivera tallied five aces and Orton tacked on nine kills. Charley Fulton earned 16 digs while Masey Kate Adams and Alyssa Austin combined for 34 assists.
Lady Lions topped by IU Columbus
Originally scheduled for 12:30 p.m., the Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions had to wait for a summer storm to pass over Henderson before taking to the pitch at the Josh Riley Soccer Complex for the first time in 2024. The Lady Lions took a plethora of shots, but fell to the Indiana University Columbus Crimson Pride 3-2.
The Lady Lions (1-4-0) fell behind early when the visitor’s were awarded a penalty after a foul in the box. The IUC attacker struck true and took a 1-0 lead at 18:43. Ellie Wood wasted little time scoring the equalizer, turning back from the left side of the box and netting her third goal of the season in the 20th minute. Wood struck again at 26:02 when a loose ball approached the IUC zone and a footrace between the keeper and Wood was won by the former, who tapped in her second goal to give FHU a 2-1 lead.
IU Columbus (2-0-0) netted a goal to tie the first half in the 39th minute before one of their strikers weaved through the FHU defense to score the game-winner at 51:33.
The Lady Lions took 25 shots in the loss, 12 of which were on target. IUC’s six total shots featured five shots on goal.
