The Waynesburg University cross country teams ran their last race of the season on Saturday, Nov. 11, running in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships. The Yellow Jackets men’s team placed the highest it has in over 15 years, taking 18th overall, while the women placed 16th

Head Coach Chris Hardie shared his thoughts about the last race of the season, and how the seniors came into their last race.

“I was really happy, I think both teams peaked very well… we probably had the best peak in about 15 years,” Hardie said. “It was like that bittersweet concept, there were people ready to go, they were excited, and when we got to the line there were a lot of tears.”

Senior Andrew Kasper led the men’s team once again, placing 65th out of 211 runners. Graduate student Quintin Weaver finished 78th overall, and wrapping up the top three was freshman Lucas Means, who finished 110th overall. 

Means talked about his placing, as he ran a personal record for an 8k race. He also commented on his now second biggest race, and how he felt coming into the meet.

“It went really well considering I PR, and still placed well. I think I was like 15th out of the freshmen that raced there,” Means said. “Honestly, going into the week, and the race up until the day it felt like a normal race. Then once you were there the vibes were all kind of special.”

Sophomore Grace Tanksley finished her season placing 55th overall out of 205 runners. She also got her personal record for the 6k race by almost a full minute, finishing with a time of 23:15.0.

The other runner to break the top-100 was senior Gabi Reifsnyder, who finished 95th overall. The women’s team was again without arguably their second best runner, Reagan Pettis, who has been out for the past four meets. 

Reifsnyder commented on if she met her expectations, and how she thought her team did. She also raved about Tanksley and her future.

“My personal expectations not so much, team wise did very well, overall there were a lot of PR’s,” Reifsnyder said. “Grace was our top girl… she had a huge PR, and I think she is going to have a really good last two years here.”

With this being the last meet of the cross country season, most of the athletes look forward to indoor track, with the first track meet taking place on Dec. 1, at the YSU Icebreaker.