Cookeville, TN – Dual podium finishes highlighted the return to the course for the Lincoln Memorial Cross Country teams, as both the Men's and Women's team took home third in the Golden Eagle Invitational. The Men ran the 6k while the Women competed in the 4k. 

LINK TO RESULTS  

THE BASICS  

• Location: Putnam County Sports Complex; Cookeville, Tennessee 

• LMU Men: 3rd out of Seven teams (69 Points)  

• LMU Women: 3rd out of Six teams (79 Points)  

• LMU Top Performers: Luis Boerkey, 7th out of 47 (19:34.53); Greta Chizzali, 8th out of 49 (14:26.00)  

HOW IT HAPPENED   

• LMU Men's Cross Country finished third to open their second-consecutive season, securing 57 points and earning three top 15 finishes 

• In the Men's 6k, eight Railsplitters would set a new career-best at the collegiate level, as three seniors earned a new best time in the distance 

• The Splitters earned four of the top 15 points available in the meet en-route to a podium finish in the opener 

• The Women's team earned four top 25 finishers on the day, as the Splitters earned their first podium finish to open a season since 2024, and their third podium finish in the last two years 

• Nine Railsplitters finished the race with a new career-best collegiate 4k time, highlighted by Chizzali finishing in 14 minutes 

• LMU's 79 points were 20 better than Austin Peay for third place while finishing just behind Chattanooga for a second-place finish 

FOR THE RAILSPLITTERS   

• The senior Luis Boerkey took home a top 10 finish thanks to his best 6k of his career, taking a whole minute off his former best performance by three minutes 

• Conner Chandler took home the second of the Splitters top 15 finishes, shaving two minutes off his former best 6k time at 20:19.47 to finish 12th  

• Roman Borgetti-Metz would finish fourth for Lincoln Memorial, ending up 15th in the final rankings with a time of 20:33.56 

• Joel Boerkey earned his best 6k cross country time of his career, finishing two minutes better than his previous time at 29:41.81 

• Vance Laster locked up the final Splitters top five, running his first collegiate 6k in 21:24.59 to lock up LMU's podium finish 

• Chizzali led the way for Lincoln Memorial, placing in the top 10 for the first time in her career in her first collegiate 4k 

• Junior Jacie Begley would finish second for the Railsplitters, finishing 21st with a time of 14:51.32, her career best in the 4k 

• Reigning All-Conference runner Weslyn McIntosh finished a mere second after Begley, as her 14:52.43 was good for 22nd and her all-time best finish in the 4k 

• Natalia Iker helped the Splitters to a podium finish, coming in 25th with a 15:09.40 mark 

• Rounding out the LMU top five, Theresa Brosthaus came in one spot behind Iker, finishing at 15.10.43 while setting a new personal 4k record 

QUOTE FROM COACH KAVALUNAS 

• "Good start for both squads and blow the dust off the racing shoes. Tough day with the heat, but both teams did well running as groups and pushing each other and be able to finish strong" 

 
UP NEXT  

• The Railsplitters will rest next weekend before venturing to Spartanburg, South Carolina for the Converse Kick-Off on September 19th.