Meet: Roanoke XC Invitational & South Region Showdown
Location: Salem, Va. (Green Hill Park)
Distance: 8k (4.97 miles)

Individual Scoring: 

4. Jonathan Hess (24:39.9)
35. Nahim Abdallah (26:16.9)
38. Julian Lawson (26:21.2)
75. Jaiden Lockhart (27:27.8)

The Short Story: Jonathan Hess and Julian Lawson continue strong seasons with personal-best 8k performances at the South Region Showdown.

The Finish Line:

• Freshman Jonathan Hess continues his dominant debut season as he shattered his own 8k PR by 48 seconds

• Redshirt Senior Nahim Abdallah placed 35th of 239 runners at 26:16.9

• Redshirt Senior Julian Lawson set an 8k PR, beating his previous best by three seconds

• Junior Jaiden Lockhart had a season-best 8k performance at 27:27.8

Hear From the Rams:

"The guys showed a lot of grit this weekend. Great to see Jonathan Hess competing in a bigger lead pack to push him to a huge PR and I am proud of our veterans finding their stride and looking better every race." -Director of Cross Country Austin Savage.

"The race today was perfect, starting with the weather, it was a sunny day, with a great temperature, and the course conditions were also excellent, the ground was hard and flat which made it a great opportunity to run a personal record. During the race, there were loads of competition for all of my teammates and myself, there wasn't a single one of us who had to run their races alone, for me that was the most important part. Having proper competition with someone throughout the whole race was key to running the time I did." -Jonathan Hess

Up Next:

The Rams will run in the A-10 Championship meet hosted by Dayton on Saturday, Nov. 1st. The men run at 10 am at Elvin R. King Cross Country Course in Cedarville, Ohio.