Newberry, SC- The men's and women's cross country teams both competed in the SAC Championships today, October 26th. Both races would feature the 13 teams of the conference, with Wingate taking first place on both sides. LMU's women would finish in third place while the men would post a fourth place performance.

The men were led by Marig Engelbrecht, who would post a 16th Place finish with a time of 24:58.72, a performance that would add to his impressive 2024 campaign and earn him SAC Third Team All-Conference honors. Simon Fillers would also showcase a Top 25 finish, his a 25:38.32 time.

Grace Rose would continue her impressive Fall, her 21:49.17 time earning her a fifth place finish and contributing to a First Team All-Conference nod. Jacie Begley (22:28.24) and Reaghan Curde (22:28.58) would run a solid race together, the two finishing 14th and 15th, respectively. Begley's performance this season would earn her the title Freshman of the Year in the conference, alongside earning All-Freshman Team and Second Team All-Conference awards. Curde would also earn a mention for her own season, garnering a Third Team All-Conference recognition.

Coach Kavlunas said this regarding today's races: "Both men's and women's teams had a great day.  It was very exciting to have the women finally podium in that 3^rd spot.  They have been working very hard and staying focused on that goal for the season.  They all ran great races managing their effort on a tough course for the first have very well, then being able to move up through the field to the top spots by the finish.  Great to have a Grace Rose move up to first team all-conference and then also have Reaghan Curde and Jacie Begley also receive all-conference honors, as well as Jacie also receiving freshman of the year.  The men also hit their goal of finishing 4^th, It was a little tougher as we did not have the depth with a couple of injuries through the season, but they all stepped up and ran really strong to finish 4^th.  Marig Englebrecht ran strong and was able to move up from a year ago for all-conference again."

The Top 5 Performers from LMU and the full list of results can be found below.
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/xc/24749/2024_SAC_Cross_County_Championships
 

Men's 8K		Women's 6K
Athlete (Pos.)	Time	Athlete (Pos.)	Time
Marig Engelbrecht (16)	24:58.72	Grace Rose (5)	21:49.17
Simon Fillers (25)	25:38.32	Jacie Begley (14)	22:28.24
Jaxson Branham (35)	26:29.33	Reaghan Curde (15)	22:28.58
Sam Fulton (39)	26:55.76	Weslyn McIntosh (23)	23:10.49
Luis Borkey (40)	26:57.13	Katie Smock (28)	23:25.61