Running towards the record books
Photo by Joseph Crook
Sophomore Seth Eagleson set a new record for Lee University in the 8k run at the Royals Cross Country Challenge on Oct. 9, 2015.
Finishing with a time of 24:30.0, Eagleson shattered the previous record by more than 27 seconds.
Eagleson said he and his coach had discussed the possibility of breaking the record prior to the race. However, he was not sure how his time was until the very end of the run.
'As soon as you get out of the woods, you can see the clock, and that was like 200 meters away,' Eagleson said. 'When I saw it, it was at 24:02, and I [thought] 'Oh my gosh, I'm going to do it.' I Just started kicking it, and when I came through the finish line, I was so excited.'
Sophomore Harold Smith is another standout runner for the Flames, but he was dealing with an injured heel going into the race.
'Harold actually fell back because of his injury, and as soon as that happened I locked in, and I knew that I needed to step it up,' Eagleson said. 'I decided that it had to be my day.'
Senior Terris Elliot, Flames cross country runner, said he was not surprised in the least to see Eagleson break the record.
'Seth put the team on his back when our number one struggled,' Elliot said. 'He is always consistent and someone this team can count on to grind out a 5.1 mile race to set the tone for this university's [cross country] team within the NCAA Division [ II].'
As a sophomore, Eagleson still has two years of eligibility, and he said that he plans to keep pushing himself throughout his remaining collegiate career.
Jessica Childers, senior Lady Flame cross country runner, said Eagleson's record breaking run motivates the entire cross country department to work even harder.
'We all work hard, and we're all going to support each other,' Childers said. 'Seth broke the record by quite a bit, but he didn't do it just by deciding to take it seriously one day. It has taken months of training and a healthy lifestyle.'
