By Rachel Levy 

The Shenandoah University men’s and women’s cross country teams both ended their season on Nov. 14 at the NCAA south/southeast regional.  This was a huge honor for the Hornets to be able to host such a large event.

The race was a home race for the Hornets held at the Kernstown Battlefield, which is close by.  

Out of thirty teams in the region, the men were able to lock down nineteenth place.  Leading the pack was sophomore Ray Parsons coming in 82nd place, out of 203 male runners, with a time of 28:31.9 minutes for the eight kilometer race.  Following Parsons were runners Justin Mehrer, Zachary Barton, Winston Davis, and Matthew Gussiaas for the men that qualified.  

The lady Hornets came in a little further back than the men at 23rd place.  With Shelby Shrader coming in first for the lady Hornets at 54th place out of 200 female runners.  Shrader came in with a time of 24:24.2 minutes for the six kilometer race.  Following Shrader were runners Nicole Legare, Sarah Mann, Sandra Pettis, and Aislynn Smith to round out the lady Hornets in their final race.

Emory (Ga.) held first place for both the men and women’s races.  After Emory on the men’s side came Christopher Newport University in second and Trinity took third place.  On the women’s side came Rhodes in second then Washington and Lee in third place.  Thirty teams competed for the men and 27 teams ran for the women.

This was the sixth and final race of the season for both teams.  They both had a strong season and now many of the runners on the team are starting training for their winter season, which will open on January 16.