Flames, Lady Flames Post Top-15 Regional Finishes

The Liberty men's and women's cross country teams wrapped up their 2019 seasons with top-15 finishes at the NCAA Division I Southeast Regional Championships, Friday morning at Panorama Farms. The Flames placed 11^th overall while the Lady Flames came in 13^th.

The Liberty men's squad featured a 49-second spread between its No. 1 (Felix Kandie) and No. 5 (Caleb Olson) runner, putting its top five within the 10K's first 84 finishers. The strong team running left the Flames in 11^th place of 35 teams with 334 points. Host Virginia topped Virginia Tech by 30 points (79-109) atop the men's team standings.

Despite losing freshman standout Adelyn Ackley to injury, the Lady Flames matched their best showing at this meet in the last nine years, coming in 13^th of 34 squads with 367 points. Sophomore Calli Parlier stepped up on Friday, coming in 26^th while becoming the fifth Lady Flame ever to break 21:00 for a 6K (20:57.5). NC State continued its reign in the Southeast region by 35 points (48-83) over runner-up Furman.

Women's Team Results (34 Total Teams):
1) NC State – 48
2) Furman – 83
3) Virginia Tech – 116
4) Wake Forest – 133
5) Duke – 154
13) Liberty – 367

Men's Team Results (35 Total Teams):
1) Virginia – 79
2) Virginia Tech – 109
3) NC State – 116
4) Furman – 152
5) Charlotte – 194
11) Liberty – 334

Women's 6K Individual Results (258 Total Finishers):
1) Elly Henes (NC State) – 19:48.9
2) Gabrielle Jennings (Furman) – 19:55.0
3) Savannah Carnahan (Furman) – 20:02.5
4) Kelsey Chmiel (NC State) – 20:02.6
5) Hannah Steelman (Wofford) – 20:08.1
26) Calli Parlier (Liberty) – 20:57.5
69) Priscillah Kiplagat (Liberty) – 21:46.0
81) Emma Bower (Liberty) – 21:55.2
94) Brittany Carnathan (Liberty) – 22:08.2
114) Naomi Armstrong (Liberty) – 22:24.0
119) Jamie Anderson (Liberty) – 22:26.3

Men's 10K Individual Results (247 Total Finishers):
1) Peter Seufer (Virginia Tech) – 29:20.7
2) Athanas Kioko (Campbell) – 29:24.4
3) Ryan Adams (Furman) – 29:28.7
4) Amon Kemboi (Campbell) – 29:37.7
5) Adriaan Wildschutt (Coastal Carolina) – 29:51.2
42) Felix Kandie (Liberty) – 31:06.0
58) Ryan Drew (Liberty) – 31:26.0
78) Joe Spitzer (Liberty) – 31:53.2
83) Andrew Stanley (Liberty) – 31:54.8
84) Caleb Olson (Liberty) – 31:54.9
134) Jacob Underwood (Liberty) – 32:57.8
141) Benjamin Klemmeck (Liberty) – 33:07.0

Race Reactions
• Liberty's 49-second spread between its No. 1 and No. 5 men's finishers was the third tightest spread among the top 20 men's teams on Friday. Only champion Virginia (16 seconds) and sixth-place Duke (34 seconds) featured tighter packs.

• Four of Liberty's seven men's runners (Caleb Olson, Joe Spitzer, Andrew Stanley and Jacob Underwood) made their 10K debuts on Friday.

• The Lady Flames matched their 13^th-place regional finish from 2018. That is the team's best regional showing since 2010.

• Liberty's women's team was completely comprised of freshmen and sophomores, making the Lady Flames the only team at this meet who did not have a junior or senior race on Friday.

• Parlier finished just one spot and 0.7 seconds away from the 25^th and final all-region spot in the women's race.

• Parlier was the fifth fastest sophomore in Friday's women's race.

• Five Lady Flames clocked 6K personal-best times on Friday, headlined by Jamie Anderson's 27-second improvement (22:53 to 22:26).