Spartanburg, S.C. - In their second race of the season, the Lincoln Memorial University Men's and Women's Cross Country teams competed in the Converse Kick-Off event, a preview of the Southeast Regional Championships. The Men competed in the 8k while the Women ran the 6k. 

LINK TO RESULTS 

THE BASICS   

• Location: Milliken Research Center, Spartanburg, S.C. 

• LMU Men: 7th out of 16 teams (215 Points)   

• LMU Women: 6th out of 15 teams (164 Points)   

• LMU Top Performers: Braniff Mahoney, 20th out of 190 (25:26.8); Greta Chizzali, 20th out of 128 (23:13.9)   

HOW IT HAPPENED    

• The Men's team placed seventh in the regional preview race, coming in two spots ahead of conference opponent Mars Hill 

• Four Railsplitters secured a new career-best finish in the 8k, headlined by Vance Laster securing the fourth-best finish for LMU 

• The Splitters finish placed them ahead of three near-by opponents in the USTFCCCA regional rankings, highlighted by Mars Hill and Converse 

• The Women's team finished the day as the top-finishing Division II program outside the coaches poll, placing just behind ranked Anderson 

• The Splitters placed ahead of two SAC opponents, finishing three-spots ahead of Lenoir-Rhyne and 10 in front of Mars Hill 

• In total, four from LMU would set new career-best times in the Women's 6k, with Natalia Iker leading the group 

FOR THE RAILSPLITTERS    

• Mahoney took home the top position for Lincoln Memorial, finishing his first race as a Railsplitter after transferring from Reinhardt last season 

• Jaxson Branham finished five spots behind Mahoney, taking home a 25:35.2 finish in the 8k to place 25th in the meet 

• Luis Boerkey finished in 26:46.9 after leading the Splitters in the opening meet of the season to place 77th 

• Laster, after finishing fifth for LMU in the opener, placed fourth for the Splitters with a time of 27:14.1, his career best 8k time  

• Roman Borgetti-Metz rounded out the top five for Lincoln Memorial, finishing in 27:41.0 to secure 64 total points 

• Chizzali finished atop the leaderboards for Lincoln Memorial once more, finishing 20th in a time of 23:13.9 in her first race since being named the SAC Runner of the Week 

• Theresa Brosthaus would be the next Splitter to cross the finish line, taking home 36th with a time of 24:16.1 

• Iker's time of 24:20.8 was good for third on the LMU side and 40th overall, while securing her new career best time in the collegiate 6k 

• Jacie Begley came in right behind Iker, finishing in 24:31.7 to place 45th on the day and slotting just four points behind Iker 

• Alyssa Roberts finished the top five for LMU, placing 54th on the day with a 6k time of 24:56.1 

QUOTE FROM COACH KAVALUNAS  

• "Solid races from both squads. We have some work to do to close the gap with the teams ahead of us, but we have the ability and time to do that over the course of the season. Braniff and Branham were strong running in the front groups and for the women, Chizzali again ran strong and great races from Iker and Brosthaus." 

  
UP NEXT   

• The Railsplitters travel north for their next meet, competing in the Louisville XC Classic on October 3, hosted by Louisville University.