MONTEVALLO, Ala. -- The Lincoln Memorial University men's cross country team wrapped up the 2016 season with its best-ever postseason finish by taking eighth place out of 24 teams in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional on Saturday morning in Montevallo, Ala.
 
In addition to the Railsplitters' outstanding showing, sophomore Jorge Hernandez (Mount Pleasant, Texas) notched the program's highest-ever individual finish with a 23rd-place run, earning All-Southeast Region distinctions for that effort.
 
The Railsplitters placed eighth with 247 total points. That surpassed the program's previous best finish in the NCAA Southeast Regional of 10th place in the 2012 race. Lincoln Memorial was able to edge ninth-place Anderson, who nipped the Railsplitters for third place in the South Atlantic Conference Championship, by 22 points.  
 
Mount Olive ran away with the Southeast Region title, beating out second-place Mars Hill by 22 points. Mount Olive finished with four top-20 runners and 57 points, while Mars Hill also landed four runners in the top 20 and finished with 77 points. Queens earned the final bid to the NCAA National Championship race with a third-place finish at 101 total points.
 
Hernandez led the Railsplitters with a 23rd-place run and a time of 31:42.45, earning All-Southeast Region accolades. Hernandez's 23rd-place finish represents the best region finish by an LMU men's cross country runner in program history.
 
The rest of the Railsplitters were bunched up tightly. Jacob Gatewood (Sulphur Springs, Texas) took 55th place, one spot ahead of Ayden Farmer (Kingsport, Tenn.). Brandon Vaughn (Dallas, Texas) was just a shade back of that duo in 62nd place, while Jacob King (Douglasville, Ga.) rounded out the Railsplitters' showing in 71st place.
 
In addition to the three teams that qualified for the National Championship (Mount Olive, Mars Hill, Queens), Armstrong State's Henning Schein, King's Tanner Cook and Young Harris' Mathew Biwott earned individual bids to the National Championship, which is being held in St. Leo, Fla. on November 19.
 
Complete results from the 2016 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional can be found here.