Men's cross country runner Harold Smith has been named Lee University's Male Athlete of the Week after leading the Flames to an "unofficial" first place finish at the Gulf South Conference Championship in Birmingham, Ala.
Due to Lee having provisional status and not full NCAA Division II members, the two squads were ineligible to win the conference championship and were not included in the official results.
Smith continued his strong freshman campaign with a mark of 25:52.55 in the 8K race. His time put him in second behind Shorter University's Silos Too (24:35.45). There were 81 individuals that competed in the event.
The Cleveland native and Bradley Central graduate has made a huge impact in his first year for the Lee cross country team. Smith set a new school record in the 8k (24:58.26) two weeks ago at the Sand Shark Invite in Hardeeville, S.C.
"The men were fifth last year, so to be able to come back and finish first a year later shows how hard out team has worked," said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan.Â
Smith and the Flames will look to continue their success as they run in the National Christian College Athletic Association National Championship on Saturday in Houghton, N.Y.
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