Peter Seufer and Sara Freix earned All-Southeast Region honors after strong performances at the NCAA Southeast Regional cross country meet held Friday morning on Winthrop University's campus in Rock Hill, South Carolina.
Seufer, a redshirt junior from Lynchburg, Virginia, continued his stellar season. The ACC champion came in second in the men's race, running the 10K course in a time of 29 minutes, 27.6 seconds. Seufer finished less than a second behind winner James Sugira of Eastern Kentucky.
Behind Seufer and a 30th-place finish from redshirt sophomore Fitsum Seyoum, the Tech men's squad came in eighth in the team competition. Fellow ACC member NC State won the team event with 83 points, followed by Eastern Kentucky, Virginia, Furman, Wake Forest, Liberty, Charlotte and the Hokies, who had 231 points.
Seyoum ran the course in 30:49, and Jack Joyce was 60th overall with a time of 31:29.8. Ben Fleming was 64th, and Osman Humeida came in 76th.
(11/9/2018) 2018 NCAA CROSS COUNTRY REGIONAL
On the women's side, Freix, too, continued her strong season, finishing eighth overall to lead the Tech women to a fifth-place finish in the team race. NC State won the team competition with 70 points, followed by Furman, Duke, Wake Forest and the Hokies, who scored 181 – and edged rival Virginia by 11 points.
Freix, a junior from Centreville, Virginia who was 13th at the ACC Championships, ran the 6K course in a time of 20:15.8, earning All-Southeast Region honors for the first time in her career. Louisville's Dorcas Wasike won the regional with a time of 19:42.1.
Three other Virginia Tech runners finished in the top 40, led by Kayla Richardson, who was 33rd overall with a time of 20:55.3. Rachel Pocratsky came in just behind Richardson with a time of 20:56.4, and Lauren Berman finished 39th overall with a time of 21:02.4.
MEET NOTES
• Seufer now has finished first or second in each of the past four meets in which he has run. He has finished no worse than fifth at any meet this season.
• Freix destroyed her personal-best time at this distance. Her previous career-best time came earlier this season at the Penn State National Open when she ran that course in 20:44.
• Pocratsky's 34th-place finish was her best finish at a regional, and she, too, ran the race in a career-best time. Her previous top mark at this distance came at last year's ACC Championships when she ran the 6K course in Louisville, Kentucky in a time of 21:38.9.
• Berman's 39th-place finish was her best finish ever at a regional.
• Seyoum, Fleming, Humeida, Bashir Mosavel-Lo, and Will Griffen all were running the 10K distance in a meet for the first time in their careers.
UP NEXT
The NCAA Cross Country Selection Show will be held Saturday at 5 p.m. and can be watched on the NCAA website at NCAA.com. Both Tech squads could be in line for an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships. The Tech men would be looking to make their eighth appearance at the NCAA Championships in program history, while an appearance at this year's Championships would be the third in program history for the Tech women.