The Bruins wrapped up their cross-country season at the NCAA South Regionals in Tallahassee, Florida, on Nov. 15.
Both the men’s and women’s teams had strong races, finishing in 11th and 14th places, respectively.
On the men’s side, all seven Bruins who raced placed in the top 100.
Redshirt senior Nick Mota led the way for Belmont, earning a 42nd-place finish with a time of 31:15.6.
“I think this season went really well because I was able to stay healthy and string together the best cross-country season of my life. I lowered my 8k personal record by 22 seconds and placed well at most of our races so I was very happy with the season,” said Mota.
On the women’s side, three runners earned top-100 finishes for the Bruins.
Graduate student Brooke Garter earned Belmont’s top spot, finishing in 28th with a time of 20:38.0.
Graduate student Grace Litzinger and senior Brooke Stromsland also placed in the top 100, finishing in 62nd and 73rd.
The NCAA South Regional meet capped off a successful season for the Bruins. Both the men’s and women’s teams placed in the top 10 in four meets and set new program standards in the 8K.
On the men’s team, four Bruins broke the school record in the 8K. Redshirt senior Carter Cheeseman is the current record holder with a time of 23:29.8.
On the women’s side, Garter and sophomore Rachel Soukup broke the 5K school record. Soukup currently holds the record with a time of 16:47.7.
“I am very blessed to say that my last cross country season was my best one. I am thankful I got to end the cross country season at regionals on such a high note,” said Garter. “One of the highlights of the season was the race at Notre Dame. This was my last ever collegiate cross country 5k and I had a really big goal of breaking 17 which had been a motivator all the way back to the beginning of summer training. I was able to have a really strong mindset throughout the entire race and run a time of 16:57.”
With these individual accomplishments, coach Jeff Langdon said he is proud of how his team improved throughout the season
“We had school records get broken, tons of individual personal best races, and we grew a lot as a team outside of the training environment,” said Langdon. “There were obviously things that we wanted to accomplish as a team that we fell short on, but I'm proud of our athletes and how hard they worked for each other and for our program.”
Now, the teams are looking forward as the indoor season just started and the outdoor season follows closely after in March.
“This is the time to just enjoy running and training without a strict schedule. It's always tempting right now to go for the short-term gains but it's about trusting themselves and that we will get there when we need to. We are ready for a great indoor season but also have our sights set on the outdoor season and being hungry for some big races and performances,” said Coach Hannah Brookover.
-
This article was written by Rachel Suggs.