By Dustin Semore
FHU Information Director
The cross-country teams concluded their regular season on Oct. 25 to compete in the Appalachian Challenge in Knoxville, Tennessee, at Sequoyah Park.
The men’s race started at 9:30 a.m., and consisted of 207 male runners. All five of the scoring runners for the Lions set PRs. Daniel Puckett led the charge finishing in 45th place with a time of 25:43. Bo Scott was right behind him in 48th place in 25:48, and Barrett Poe also finished the 8k in under 26 minutes for the first time in his career as he finished with a time of 25:50 to place 51st. Drew Williams was the fourth runner to finish as he came across in 71st place, and Brock Windham rounded out the top five with a 92nd place finish. The team combined for 271 points for an 11th place finish out of 20 teams. Ten Lions were able to set personal best times, the top five runners along with Andrew Wrenn, Jay Hunt, Michael Keopf, Tristan Pharr, and Cooper Whitney. The top five runners had an average time of 26:10, setting a new program record, beating the previous record by 34 seconds!
Shortly after the conclusion of the men’s race, the women’s 5k race began around 10:15 a.m. Eliza Poe and Mary Pearce had All-Region finishes as they both finished in the top 25. Poe finished in 20th place setting a 39-second personal best time of 18:29, and Pearce 24-second personal best time of 18:41 to finish in 23rd place. Zena Dorris also set a personal best time running a time of 19:06 for a 39th place finish, and Megan Lampley ran a sub-20 minute 5k to place 79th. Sydney Perkins was able to finish the scoring for the Lady Lions placing 92nd on her way to personal record as well. On top of Poe, Pearce, Zena Dorris, and Perkins, two other Lady Lions set a personal record, Zola Dorris and Marlie Thompson. The team finished sixth out of 21 teams with a score of 231 points and an average time of 19:19, also a new program record!
I was able to get Junior runner Bo Scott’s thoughts on how the race went today. With so many of the top runners setting personal records today, Bo feels like this is a big confidence booster for both the team and individuals as they look ahead to the Conference Championship race in two weeks. As they prepare and set goals for that race, the girls are talking about qualifying for nationals as a team, and the guys are hoping to send individuals to nationals as well. Scott thinks the cooler weather conditions helped out a little bit since they had been racing in warmer conditions all seasons, but he credits most of the results to the training they have gone through this year and trusting the process, even when the results they wanted did not come. “We have had a hard season going against some tough teams and having very competitive races, and this was a great eye opener for the more experienced runners and some of the younger guys and girls.” Personally, this was a big confidence booster for Bo as he has not had the results he wanted, but this race was a reminder of the work he has put into the season, and a good reminder of what he is capable of doing on the course.
The cross country teams will compete at the Mid-South Conference Championships in Bowling Green, Kentucky, at Phil Moore Park and a chance to qualify for the NAIA National Championships.
By Dustin Semore
FHU Information Director
In their first game of the 2024-25 season, the No. 4 Freed-Hardeman University Lions dominated all sides of the ball in an 83-53 victory over the Ambassadors of Oakwood (Ala.) University.
It was the Peyton Law and Geraldo Lane show for the Lions (1-0), with the pair accounting for all 13 of the Lions first points until a jumper from Phil Horton at 15:13 gave FHU a 15-6 edge. After the Ambassadors tallied to score seven unanswered points, Jordan Stephens debuted in maroon and white with back-to-back 3-pointers. Down the stretch of the first half, Blake Dean capped a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer. Jayson Nixon drilled a triple as the last score for FHU, maintaining a 39-23 lead at intermission.
The bread-and-butter for the Lions is their depth down the stretch.
“I like to play a lot of guys, because we have a lot of good players,” explained Coach Drew Stutts. “Many of these guys have been with our program for multiple years and earned worked their way up the depth chart. We will consistently play 10 guys through the year and have strength in numbers! This will be one of the deepest teams I’ve had at FHU once we get everyone healthy.”
That depth was shown off in the second half with FHU going on three separate runs of eight or more points over the Ambassadors (0-1). Peyton Law’s jumper at 8:50 opened an 11-point run that ended with the Lions leading 68-40. Sam Powell and Dalton Colbert hit late 3-pointers to help push FHU to the final buzzer with a 83-53 victory.
“I thought overall we played well together,” said Stutts. “A lot of new guys, some young guys, too, but I thought as the game went on we got more and more comfortable. It’s going to be fun seeing these guys build some chemistry on the court together early in the season.”
FHU out-rebounded Oakwood 40-26 including 13 offensive boards to lead to 18 second-chance buckets. The Lions had great ball movement, dishing out 17 assists to the Ambassadors’ nine.
Peyton Law led the charge for the Lions, going 9-14 from the floor to collect 22 points. Jordan Stephens was 3-8 from long range to debut in Henderson with 16 points, while Geraldo Lane collected 15 points. Sam Powell wrapped up the double-digit scoring with 10 points. Lane grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, with nine different Lions grabbing multiple rebounds.
By Dustin Semore
FHU Information Director
The Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lion basketball team opened their season by hosting the Bearcats of Rust (Miss.) College. Despite a slow start for both squads, FHU took advantage of a 28-7 second quarter to earn a 72-48 victory.
It took a little more than three minutes, but Carissa Curtis got the Lady Lions (1-0) on the board first with a fastbreak layup at 6:51. The Lady Lion defense stifled the Bearcats with the visitors going 0-10 from the floor before registering their first field goal with a layup at 1:32. Curtis answered in turn with a 3-pointer to help keep the Lady Lions ahead before an answering 3-pointer ended the first quarter with a 9-9 stalemate.
“We definitely had some first game jitters to start but once we settled in, I thought we had some really good moments,” said first-year head coach Abby Stutts. “Some things didn’t go our way early, missed some easy shots, had some foul trouble, but we had several girls step up and really helped us get going.”
FHU then set the net aflame with a 3-pointer from Lucy Curry sandwiching a pair of Rachel Satterly triples to help the Lady Lions score 13 unanswered points to take a 22-9 lead over Rust (0-1) with Lilly Kee’s layup at 4:40. Curtis registered the final eight points for FHU with a pair of 3-pointers and two free throws to help FHU go into the break holding a 37-16 lead.
Rust’s shooting got back on track in the third quarter, utilizing a set of 6-0 runs to close the gap to a 45-28 lead for FHU, but Brooklyn Crouch’s long ball at 1:45 pushed the Lady Lions to 50 points over the Bearcats’ 29. Late free throws from Satterly helped to a 55-32 lead moving into the final frame.
The Lady Lions went on a set of six-point runs before Reece Moore joined Kee ot put the icing on the cake with Moore connecting for a 3-pointer and Kee’s jumper finalizing the score on a 72-48 victory.
Stutts feels confident after collecting her career’s first win: “It feels good! There have been a lot of firsts for me becoming head coach these past couple of months but getting that first win is extremely special. I’ll never experience coaching that first game again, so proud of our girls for making it an exciting one.”
The Lady Lions showed their strength down low, bucketing 32 points in the paint to Rust’s 14.
Lilly Kee led her name be heard loud and clear with a game-high 16 point debut where she was two rebounds away from a double-double with a team-high eight boards. Carissa Curtis was 3-9 from long range to help her score 15 points while Kelsey Bender and Rachel Satterly each tallied 10.
By Dustin Semore
FHU Information Director
The Freed-Hardeman volleyball team (13-14, 2-8) ended their away trek with a clean sweep over Georgetown College (6-15,3-8) on Friday evening.
FHU set the tone from the opening serve, holding a steady lead throughout, which ended in a 25-20 win. The Lions had 12 kills through the first set alone, with Alanys Ruiz Rivera notching five of them and Iza Wos adding three as well.
The Lions, fueled by another dominant frame by Ruiz Rivera, took the second set with a 25-16 win to bring on a chance for a sweep.
Tied at 22, the third set proved to be much more competitive. The match was capped with a kill from FHU’s, Audrey Orton, her eighth of the night.
Ruiz Rivera concluded the evening with 15 kills and a .367 hitting percentage. Orton and Wos helped Freed-Hardeman’s offensive attack with eight and six kills, respectively. Charley Fulton led the Lions with 15 digs, while Autumn Howard achieved the double-digit effort with ten digs. Avery Young had two blocks and Alyssa Austinn generated 33 assists on the offensive end.
Freed-Hardeman will be back at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m. with a match against Crowley’s Ridge (6-12).
