WINGATE, N.C. – Senior Sam Lloyd-Perks closed out his Lincoln Memorial University men's cross country career with a strong performance at the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Saturday morning. The Kidderminster, Great Britain, native wrapped up his out his career with a 33rd-place finish at the talent-loaded regional race. Teammate Michael Jakubek, a sophomore from Pysel, Czechia, was one step ahead of Lloyd-Perks as he finished in 32nd place.
 
Jakubek ran the 10k course in 33 minutes flat with Lloyd-Perks crossing the finish line 13 seconds behind.
 
The NCAA regional meet, which featured the best runners and teams in Division II from the southeast region, was dominated by South Atlantic Conference squads with Queens winning the team title, followed by the Peach Belt Conference's Augusta and Conference Carolinas' Mount Olive. The top three teams will advance to the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship, held Saturday, Nov. 23 in Sacramento, California.
 
Twenty-four teams participated in the NCAA men's regional meet with 157 runners racing. The Railsplitter men finished 13th in the team competition, besting fellow SAC members Carson-Newman (14th), Mars Hill (17th) and Newberry (21st). Wingate, Catawba, Anderson and Lenoir-Rhyne all placed in the top 10 with Tusculum in 12th, just one spot ahead of LMU. The Pioneers total team time of 2:51:40.50 was only 5:46 faster than the Railsplitters' 2:57:26.10.
 
Freshman Mason Johns completed his first collegiate 10K event in 35:17.8, putting him in 86th place. Junior Daniel Johnson finished the course in 37:35.4 followed by sophomore Micah Moss at 38:21.3.
 
Sophomore Kiley Holmes, who covered the 6K course in 24:53.3, placed 86th and once again led the Lady Railsplitters. Sophomore Maria Chellah (25:39.4), junior Chloe Harp (26:01.7), sophomore Unique Earley (27:17.7) and freshman McKenna Korody (29:07.9) completed the team scoring. LMU finished 18th in the 25-team NCAA Southeast Regional women's race, which had 181 total runners.
 
Queens ran away with the women's team championship, followed by Flagler College in second place and fellow SAC member and meet host Wingate third.
 
The individual winners of the NCAA postseason regional race were Leah Hanle of Mount Olive (20:53.0) for the women and UNC Pembroke's Joshua Chepkesir (30:30.7) for the men.
 
Automatic bids to the 2019 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship are awarded to the top three men's and women's teams at each of the eight regional championships, while 10 additional teams are selected as at-large bids by the NCAA Division II Men's and Women's Cross Country Committee. Additionally, 24 individuals outside of the qualifying teams are selected to compete at the NCAA national championship meet. At-large bids will be announced Monday from the NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis.
 
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Railsplitter and Lady Railsplitter cross country throughout the 2019 season.