Newport News, VA- The men and women's cross country team headed to Virginia to take part in the NCAA Cross Country South/Southeast Regional Championships. The Championships were hosted by Christopher Newport University and took place on the Lee Hall Mansion grounds. The women's team placed 13th out of 34 with a school record team average of 24:06. The men also set a school record team average with a 25:37 and placed 7th out of 32 scoring teams.
The day started with the men's 8k race. Logan Mckenzie ran a gutsy race and tried to break away from the returning regional champion, Grayson Reid. The two ran the last mile of the race together pushing each other every step. The last 100 meters of the race saw the two go back in forth and in the end Reid got the win finishing just 2 seconds ahead of Mckenzie. Logan's time of 24:03 is the second fastest in Berea College history. Tanner Carson was the next Mountaineer across the line running a personal best 8k time of 25:13 to finish 22nd. Landon Bond was the 3rd Berea runner running a personal best of 25:59 to finish 49th. Emmanuelle Kemmei was 4th on the squad with a time of 26:18 and a 66th place finish. Corbin Flege was rounded out the scoring for Berea with a personal best time of 26:27 to finish 73rd. Zachary Raab finished 78th overall with a personal best time of 26:31 followed by Kyle Young in 109th with a personal best of 26:49.
Logan McKenzie and Tanner Carson were named to the USTFCCCA All Region team and McKenzie punched his ticket to Elsah, IL to compete in the NCAA DIII National Championships on November, 18 2017 at 11:00am.
The Next race of the day was the women's 6k. Dove DeNigris lead the Mountaineers with a personal best time of 23:24 to finish 63rd. Freshman, Abby Schlenker ran a great race to finish 71st overall with a personal best time of 23:36. Delaney Williams finished 3rd for the Mountaineers placing 99th with a time of 24:15, teammate Jenna Hughes ran a huge personal best of 24:33 to finish 112th. Senior Erin Gonterman rounded out the scoring for Berea with finishing 115th in a time 24:40. Ivanna Sabino and Hayley Clark ran 6th and 7th on the team placing 121st and 168th with times of 24:45 and 25:57.