Nov. 11, 2007

An outstanding 2007 Lipscomb University Cross Country season came to a close Saturday at the NCAA Division I South Regional Championships. The University of Florida hosted the meet in Gainesville.

Ryan Chastain represented the Bison men extremely well, finishing 48th for the 10-K race in a time of 32:33. His place was an improvement of 31 places over last year, and his time was a 10-K PR of 1 minute 42 seconds.

"Ryan ran really solid." said head coach Bill Taylor. "He ran smooth and pretty aggressive early and held on well late.

"Because I was hired so late in the summer, we were not able to properly train Ryan for the 10-K distance, but he looked great anyway. He did everything I expected him to do in this meet and capped off a terrific season."

Chastain has truly had a terrific sophomore season. He lowered his all-time 8-K PR from 26:00 to a school record 24:48 and led the way for a young and rapidly improving Lipscomb men's team in all but one meet.

Ryan was not the only shining star this season though. Ten of the 12 Bison men ran their all-time PR's this season, with many improving by more than a minute. This all points to a very bright future for this young team that returns all 12 men in 2008.

"The immediate future for both the men's and women's programs is very exciting," Taylor said. " These teams overcame getting a new coach at the last minute, starting to learn a new training program and coaching philosophy, and dealing with very limited time for practices this season.

` Yet, despite the hurdles we saw huge PR's, big team finish improvements and an incredible season for both teams. But we have barely scratched the surface. Their minds are just beginning to open up to the reality of what they are capable of doing. There is talent here and I am so happy that I get to be a part of seeing it all realized. This has been a great season, but it is only a sign of things to come. Both teams expect to rise to the highest level of the NCAA. I don't see anything stopping them.