Cross country closed its season on a historic Friday morning in Huntsville for the NCAA South Regional Championships. Sophomore standouts Brian Bett and Sandra Maiyo each broke school records to headline a day filled with personal bests.
Earlier that week, Head Coach Connor Callahan had said the Lions needed to “pack [their] confidence” to face the 28-school regional meet. Between the men’s and women’s squads, UNA posted six personal records and seven new entries into the program’s broken records.
The women’s team ran first at 8:30 a.m. Maiyo delivered one of the Lions’ biggest highlights of the season. She ran 20:45.3, breaking a 19-year-old 6K record previously held by Emry McKay, who set the mark in 2006. Maiyo cut nearly 36 seconds off her earlier season time at Gans Creek.
Maiyo led the Lions, followed by Audrey Becker (23:41.2), Savannah Williams (24:04.9), and Cambree Bradford (24:07.5). Bradford shattered her previous best by more than two minutes.
Senior Traci Pettus closed her UNA career with a 24:27.3, and Taylor Williams finished the scoring in 24:36.3. UNA finished 27th ahead of Georgia Southern by 44 points
“Last chance,” Callahan had said before the men’s team began their contribution at 9:30 a.m. “The ladies set the tone with PRs — it is time to lay it on the line for your brothers.”
Bett powered the men’s team to a 17th-place team finish while smashing his own 10K record, clocking 30:07.1 to place 19th of 202 runners. The mark breaks the record he set as a freshman at last year’s regional meet, where he finished 20th. It also secures his second straight All-Region honor.
Behind Bett, sophomore Vincent Chpkwony ran 31:28.9, placing him sixth all-time in UNA history. Junior Aidan Shannon, celebrating his birthday, cut nearly two minutes off his best with a 32:32.5 — 11th all-time.
Freshman Jack Gruber impressed in his regional debut, posting 32:45.5, good for 12th all-time. Sammy Sang (33:36.0) and Brent Lyons (33:39.0) followed, securing the 22nd and 24th positions in the school’s 10K rankings. Senior Jackson Hamlin closed out the men’s lineup with a 34:22.6.
“When you can end the season with multiple personal records, it makes for an exciting day,” Callahan said. “The team once again gave it everything they had. I’m grateful that we get to bring back nearly everyone from these two squads next season. We will continue to get better and build on the culture we’ve developed throughout this year.”
