The Lindenwood University men's and women's cross-country teams wrap up their season Saturday at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships at the Eagle Trace Golf Course in Morehead, Ky.
The Lions have been paced for the bulk of the season by a pair of sophomores, Anders Hekkli and Holly Harding. Both runners have twice been named OVC Runners of the Week during this year's slate and will attempt to push for all-conference honors during Saturday's race. Freshman Kadence Berry also took a turn this season leading the Lindenwood pack, earning meet medalist honors at the team's season opener at Ball State.

Harding, the 2022 OVC freshman of the year honoree, will look to improve upon her thirty-seventh-place individual finish at last season' conference championship meet, while Berry will look to cap her own first season with a strong debut performance at the OVC Championship race. Hekkli will attempt to outpace the twenty-second-place individual finish he turned in last year on the conference championship course in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Eleven squads will toe the line Saturday in Kentucky, with the men's race slated to begin at 8 AM CT, and the women's scheduled to begin at 9 AM CT. Nine women and six men are schedule to race for the Lions.

"We'll represent the Lindenwood University athletic department with pride, and we'll be competitive," said Lindenwood University Director of Track and Field and Cross Country, Nadia Alexander-Pompey.

Both Lindenwood teams finished in ninth place at last year's championship and will look to climb the final rankings to cap their second season of OVC competition.

"I anticipate us improving upon our previous season's performance," said Lindenwood University Head Cross Country Coach Damion Drummond. "We have a younger team as a whole, with some experienced seniors on the men's side."

Drummond said the team has prepared this season with an eye toward improving specific segments of the race, and that the team has responded well in preparation,
"The way we finish the race has become more intentional as the season has progressed," Drummond said.

"Some of our signature workouts have been programmed with a high emphasis on tapping into VO2 max, and we're trying to max that out. We get up there, and so why try to slow down a moving train?"

Drummond said he expects his lead runners to stretch toward the front of the pack, but that improvement by the prospective fifth and sixth runners provides the best opportunity for LU to turn in a strong team performance.

"The members of the team that have been holding us down as top-performers this season—both of them 2-time OVC runners of the week—I expect them to hold up that performance," Drummond said. "Our fifth and sixth runners on both sides have rotated throughout the season, but I do look for improvement there on both sides as we look to build up our team finish."
Drummond said a big key to the team's performance this weekend will be their ability to start out more purposefully.

"We've been pacing better," he said. "Last season we were unsure of ourselves in the middle of the race, but we've seen a lot of improvement there. The starts have been a work in progress.
Seniors like Luke (Talbot) and Courtney (Reid) and Kirsten (Huffman) have been a big part of this, and the middle segments of races have been one of our strongest points this year.
 
 
Seniors Talbot, Reid, Huffman, Emma Hubbell, and Timothy Maxwell will complete their Lindenwood University cross country careers Saturday. Those athletes have helped the LU squad bridge its progression from the NCAA Division II level to NCAA Division I competition, and coach Drummond said the efforts of those athletes will serve as a foundation as the program continues to grow and press forward—Saturday morning and beyond.

Eastern Illinois swept the OVC men's and women's team championship last season, while Southern Indiana University boasted the top individual finishers in both the men's and women's race. Following the conclusion of the Championship, Lindenwood runners will begin preparation for the indoor track and field season, which begins Dec. 9 at the Edmonds-Wilt Invitational, hosted by Purdue University.