KERNERSVILLE, N.C. --- Senior Lesley Boyd took third in the women's 5-kilometer race, leading the women to a third place finish while the men placed fourth at the 2023 Southern Conference Cross Country Championships at the Ivey M. Redmon Race Course.
 
Four Mocs earned all-conference status and two were named to the All-Freshman Team. Boyd was named to the first team while sophomore Maddie Wheatcroft placed 14^th and was named to the women's second team. Aaron Isbell finished 13^th for the men and Jack Martin placed 14^th with both being named to the men's second team. Lola Baker joined Martin on the league's All-Freshman Team.
 
Boyd battled it out with Furman who placed seven runners in the Top Nine. She covered the 5-kilometer course in a time of 16:49.9, just 8.2 seconds off the lead pace set by Furman's Abigail Robertson. Maddie Wheatcroft was next across the line for Chattanooga placing 14^th overall with a personal best time of 17:52.0.
 
Boyd was named to the All-Conference First Team and Wheatcroft earned a spot on the second team. The top seven finishers are named to the first team and the remaining seven on the second team.
 
Kathryn Vradenburgh finished 17^th, setting a new PR with a time of 17:58.6. Emma Russum was the fourth UTC runner to cross the line with a time of 18:06.7. Leah Boyd, coming back from an injury, was the fifth scoring runner for the Mocs with a time of 18:41.7.
 
Lola Baker placed 42^nd overall with a time of 19:10.0 in her first Southern Conference Championship and earned a spot on the league's All-Freshman Team.
 
Furman won with 20 points followed by Samford with 71 points and the Mocs close behind with 75. Mercer was fourth with 104 points and ETSU took fifth with 122 points.
 
Isbell and Martin finished just 0.2 seconds apart and were named to the SoCon All-Conference Second Team. Isbell finished 13^th overall with a time of 25:26.2 and Martin was 14^th with a time of 25:26.4. Martin was the third freshman finisher and earned a spot on the league's All-Freshman Team.
 
Tristan Gould was the third Chattanooga finisher in the men's 8-kilometer race and just missed his PR by 3.3 seconds with a time of 26:25.9. Erik Martin was right behind Gould with a time of 26:26.7 and Eammon O'Bryant was the fifth scoring runner to finish for Chattanooga with a time of 26:32.6.
 
Furman's men, like the women, claimed a Southern Conference record 11^th consecutive title. The Paladins' Dylan Schubert paced the field with a time of 23:33.7. ETSU's Jason Bowers was 11.9 seconds behind. The Bucs took second with 47 points followed by Mercer with 112 points and the Mocs fourth with 133 points. Samford placed fifth with 145 points.
 
The Mocs will begin preparations for the NCAA South Region Championships in two weeks in Gainesville, Fla.

FROM HEAD COACH ANDY MEYER
"We had a very good day for both programs. I could not be prouder of a group of kids."
 
"The ladies race started out very, very fast. Our team was sixth overall at the first time check and Lesley [Boyd] was 10th overall. They remained patient and trusted in their training. They slowly began pulling runners back. Lesley and two others had separated themselves from everyone else. The three tried surging on each other but stayed together until the last 150m were it became a sprint to the line. In the pack Maddie [Wheatcroft], Emma [Russum] and Kathryn [Vradenburgh] continued impressive success moving through a fading field. Leah [Boyd], Andrea [Ellis ] and Lola [Baker] were just behind. They were able to close for a third place finish just four points out of second."
 
"The guys followed basically the same script. They were smart and stayed with the race plan. They had been running better each race and were able to put a very strong effort in at the right time. Aaron [Isbell] and Jack [Martin] ran incredibly hard. Jasper [Wilson], Tristan [Gould], Eammon [O'Bryant] and Erik [Martinez] closed the gap to the front as we needed."
 
"We will miss Emma, Kathryn and Jasper. Their leadership was key to our success. But we have a majority of the kids coming back and we are excited already for next year. As well as we did, we left points out on the course and need to continue getting better."
 
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Women's Individual Results
3	Lesley Boyd	16:49.9
14	Maddie Wheatcroft	17:52.0
17	Kathryn Vradenburgh	17:58.6
20	Emma Russum	18:06.7
29	Leah Boyd	18:41.7
33	Andrea Ellis	18:47.9
42	Lola Baker	19:10.0
54	Brooke Tyll	19:59.1

 

Men's Individual Results
13	Aaron Isbell	25:26.2
14	Jack Martin	25:26.4
35	Tristan Gould	26:25.9
36	Erik Martinez	26:26.7
38	Eammon O'Bryant	26:32.6
39	Jasper Wilson	26:33.0
52	Kaigen Mulkey	27:16.7
70	Eric Mitchell	28:17.2

              

Women's Team Results
1	Furman	20
2	Samford	71
3	Chattanooga	75
4	Mercer	104
5	ETSU	122
6	UNCG	185
7	Wofford	227
8	Western Carolina	230
9	VMI	238
10	The Citadel	309

 

Men's Team Results
1	Furman	22
2	ETSU	47
3	Mercer	112
4	Chattanooga	133
5	Samford	145
6	Western Carolina	166
7	UNCG	168
8	VMI	184
10	Wofford	307