WKU cross country athletes Savannah Heckman and Mary Dye both cracked the top 150 in the NCAA Southeast Regional at E.P. “Tom” Sawyer State Park in Louisville on Friday.

The pair was competing in a field of 223 that consisted of runners from teams such as No. 1 NC State, No. 9 North Carolina, No. 27 Liberty and No. 30 Kentucky.

Heckman, a fith-year, ran a 21:40.5 in the 6k event and Dye, a true freshman, was not far behind with a 23:03.8. The pair finished 58th and 143rd respectively.

“It was exciting to see Mary and Savannah mix it up with some of the top runners in the nation today,” cross country head coach Brooks LeCompte said in a release. “It’s a testament to their hard work and dedication throughout the season, ending with a solid performance at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet.”

The program had its ups and downs throughout the fall, but LeCompte is happy with the progress his athletes made and is hopeful for the spring.

“Throughout this season we had a fair share of adversity and didn’t quite reach the goals the teams set out to accomplish,” LeCompte said. “Despite our overall teams missing the mark, we had many individuals run massive PRs and freshmen adapt well to our training system. I think over time this team will come into its own and perform at the level they’re capable of. We truly have some great athletes here and we will definitely see some huge performances from them come track season.”

The Hilltoppers will return for indoor track & field season in the spring of 2022.

Sports Editor Jake Moore can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Charles_JMoore.