RADFORD MEN PLACE 4TH, WOMEN 5TH AT BIG SOUTH CROSS COUNTRY

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Results

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Radford men's and women's cross country teams each posted strong performances at the 2015 Big South Cross Country Championships on Saturday, with the men placing fourth, while the Highlander women taking fifth.

The men's squad matched their fourth-place performance from last season and placed three runners among the top 25 overall. The Highlanders totaled 120 points – 21 fewer than a year ago – to beat out fifth-place UNC Asheville (137).

Redshirt senior Ryan Farnan led the way individually and posted his best career Big South finish, placing 18th with a season-best time 8K time of 25:58.80. Fellow senior Chaz Porter also had his top conference showing as Highlander and set a new personal-best, clocking 26:03.69 to place 21st.

Jacob Black was close behind in the 25th spot with a time of 26:20.59. He was followed by senior Harrison Murn, who ran a season-best 26:48.65 to finish 32nd. Jeff Gibson rounded out the top five in 34th overall with a time of 26:56.37.

Campbell took the team title with 31 points, Liberty was second with 42 and High Point finished with third with 48.

For the Radford women, all five of their scoring runners clocked either career or season-best times, with a span of just 33 seconds between the first and fifth. The Highlanders had three top-30 finishers overall and totaled 157 points to finish ahead of sixth-place Campbell (174).

The trio of Courtney Burton, Courtney Rice and Sarah Riley crossed the line consecutively for RU, starting with Burton in 26th place. She finished in a time of 19:01.75 to post a personal best for the second time in as many 5K races this season. She also improved her conference position by 25 spots from last year.

Fellow junior Rice was just off four seconds off of her career-best time, clocking 19:03.34 to place 27th. Freshman Riley once again placed among the Highlanders' top three, taking 28th overall in a season-best 19:05.22. Classmate Percie Lyons also lowered her 5K time, finishing in 19:27.91 for 42nd place, while sophomore Cailyn Lavigne ran a personal-best 19:36.44 for 46th spot.

High Point won its second straight title with 47 points. Coastal Carolina was second with 51, followed by Liberty (58) and UNC Asheville (108).

"I'm pleased with our execution today," Radford head coach Eric Thatcher said. "Our men and women both did a tremendous job improving by 15 to 20 spots during the second half of the races. "Our strong second half ended up being the key to our top-half finishes. With plenty of depth returning for next year, I am excited about using these finishes to set the expectation to annually join the top third of the Big South."

Sophomore Brady Guertin, who finished one spot behind Gibson in the race, and Rice were named to the Big South All-Academic Teams.

Radford's men will be back in action next Friday as they return to the Virginia Tech campus for the Hokie Open. Both teams will then compete in the NCAA Southeast Regional meet on Nov. 13.

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Players Mentioned

Courtney Burton: Dis.; 5' 10"; Junior

Cailyn Lavigne: Dis.; 5' 6"; Sophomore

Courtney Rice: Dis.; 5' 6"; Junior

Sarah Riley: Dis.; 5' 6"; Freshman

Percie Lyons: Dis.; 5' 2"; Freshman

Jacob Black: Dis.; 5' 9"; Sophomore

Brady Guertin: Dis.; 5' 5"; Sophomore

Harrison Murn: Dis.; 5' 11"; Senior

Chaz Porter: Dis.; 6' 1"; Senior

Jeff Gibson: Dis.; 5' 11"; Freshman

Ryan Farnan: Dis.; 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior

Players Mentioned

Courtney Burton
: 5' 10"; Junior
: Dis.

Cailyn Lavigne
: 5' 6"; Sophomore
: Dis.

Courtney Rice
: 5' 6"; Junior
: Dis.

Sarah Riley
: 5' 6"; Freshman
: Dis.

Percie Lyons
: 5' 2"; Freshman
: Dis.

Jacob Black
: 5' 9"; Sophomore
: Dis.

Brady Guertin
: 5' 5"; Sophomore
: Dis.

Harrison Murn
: 5' 11"; Senior
: Dis.

Chaz Porter
: 6' 1"; Senior
: Dis.

Jeff Gibson
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: Dis.

Ryan Farnan
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Senior
: Dis.

Radford University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned