Lady Lion Cross Country Runners Eliza Poe and Mary Pearce will compete at the 2025 NAIA National Championships in Tallahassee, Fla, on Friday, November 21. Pearce will be competing in her second consecutive National Championship race, and Poe is the third Lady Lion to qualify for this race.

Poe has been a four-year member of this team and has seen her senior year be arguably the best in Lady Lion history. In the first race of the season at Memphis Twilight, Poe broke the women's FHU record with a 5K time of 18:24. One week later, she continued her hot start by winning the Freed Speed Invitational, setting a 6K PR while also leading the women to a team victory as well. In September at the Southern Showcase, she broke her school record by 17 seconds and set another school record while also earning the Mid-South Conference Runner of the Week honors. At the Live in Louisville 6K, she set a PR in her fourth consecutive race, and then continued the PR-streak with a 5K PR and school record of 17:56 at the Appalachian Challenge to conclude the regular season. Although she did not set a PR, her biggest accomplishment of the season was finishing as Mid-South Conference Runner-Up, solidifying her spot at the NAIA National Championship. 

I asked Eliza how it feels to achieve this milestone and what has made this season so special and different from the seasons before. Poe said, "This season I've put in more miles and more work than ever before, and I've truly just loved running more this season. I've been more in love with running than ever before. This season has been all about mindset for me. I've changed my mindset going into every race and every practice, thanking God that I get to be here at Freed and that I get to run and just how blessed I am. God has been so good to me, and I want to do my best to give Him the glory in everything I do. Having that excitement and joy going into every race and every day has made a significant impact on me and how I've done this season." Eliza is feeling excited about her last cross country race of her career, but it's also a bittersweet feeling for her. "I'm very excited about this race and feeling bittersweet since it's the last race of my XC career. I'm excited to make memories and to give it everything I've got! The race is at my high school state course, so it'll be a full circle moment, so I'm definitely super excited about that!"

Pearce had an impressive freshman campaign last year by becoming just the second Lady Lion to qualify for nationals, and followed it up with an even better sophomore season. Pearce also started the season off with a PR at Memphis Twilight and then a top-three finish at the Freed Speed Invitational. Last season, she earned a National Championship bid by finishing in ninth place at the Mid-South Conference Championship, and she placed even higher this year with a fourth-place finish.

Pearce says that she is super excited about the opportunity to compete at nationals. It was one of her goals coming into her freshman year, and being able to compete in both of her seasons so far feels amazing to her. She wants to give credit to her team as a whole for helping push and encouraging her all season. "Our team has been training super hard this year, and my teammates are a big reason why I have made it this far. Running is a challenging sport, and it's hard to get up and run every day. But we hold each other accountable and push each other. I feel prepared for the race because of the hard work we put into training throughout the season." As mentioned earlier, Pearce qualified for Nationals last season, and even though the race is at a different venue, she is hoping she can use her experience from last year to help her have a better race this year. "I would love to be an All-American, but I for sure want to PR and place better than last year. Also, I want to run a smart race, trusting the hard work I put in throughout the season. I am super grateful for the opportunity to represent FHU at nationals, and I am excited to see what happens."

I was able to ask Coach J Hall to provide some more context about how the conference race went that led to national bids. He noted that both runners went in with some kind of crutch that could have potentially held them back. Eliza had been sick all week, and Mary had a lot of pressure to repeat her performance from last year. "Watching Eliza and Mary at the conference championship this year was nothing short of incredible. I was confident in my girls, but I knew it was going to be a tough race. The gun went off, and it seemed like all those pretexts vanished - Eliza attacked the lead the whole race and gave an amazing surge to outkick 3rd place at the finish line. Mary fought hard the whole time and ran a methodical race that set her up for a fourth-place finish. Coach Hall also provided some input about these two runners and their accomplishments, and the season as a whole. "Over the last two years, it's been amazing to watch these two athletes get to where they are now. They both have sacrificed so much time and effort to reach their goals, and as a coach, it's been inspiring to watch them climb this ladder. As a coach, it's hard not to think that your athletes "deserve" certain titles and accomplishments. You see how hard they work and everything they put into their craft, and you want more than anything else for it to translate on race day. I couldn't be prouder of my teams this year and especially these two!"