LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sophomores Nolan Hester and Paul Stamm haven't wasted any time in establishing themselves as a dynamic duo for the Bellarmine University men's cross country team.

For the second time in as many meets, the Knights' pair recorded all-time top-10 performances in the 8k, with the latest coming in front of a home audience in the Gold Race at Saturday's Live in Lou Classic at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park.

Additionally, Bellarmine delivered a program-record four sub-25-minute times and had five harriers register all-time top-25 performances, making this among the greatest team efforts in Knights annals for the second meet in a row.

In the North Alabama Showcase, the team's previous race, Stamm, a transfer from Xavier, posted the third-best 8k time in program history and Hester the sixth. At the Live in Lou Classic, Hester overtook third after finishing in 24:16.0 while Stamm locked up fourth after clocking a 24:22.1.

Hester leap-frogged to second on the 8k performance list (measures PR) and Stamm is third. Both sit directly behind three-time Division II All-American Chris Striegel, who also carries the top two 8k times in program history. Hester placed 43rd overall at the Classic and Stamm took 56th.

Jackson Gawarecki continued his breakout campaign, as the sophomore registered the 14th-fastest time in program history and rocketed from 22nd to seventh on the performance list after finishing in 24:56.6. He placed 117th overall.

Senior Nick Lewis recorded the team's fourth sub-25 with a 24:57.9 that ranks as the program's 16th-best time ever. It also catapulted Lewis from 13th to 11th on the performance list. Overall, Lewis placed 120th.

Sophomore D.K Schnieders posted the team's fifth all-time top-25 performance after finishing in 25:02.9, which ranks 25th ever. Schnieders placed 133rd overall.

Bellarmine totaled eight sub-26 performances. In addition to the aforementioned harriers, the group included freshman Nolan White (25:24.8), sophomore Hunter Griffin (25:28.6) and senior Nate Smith (25:36.6).

As a team, Bellarmine placed 17th out of 31 at the meet. Grand Valley State won the team title.

Bellarmine's final regular-season race will unfold Oct. 14 at the Bradley Pink Classic.

Bellarmine Results (8k Gold Race)
43. Nolan Hester (24:16.0); 56. Paul Stamm (24:22.1); 117. Jackson Gawarecki (24:56.6); 120. Nick Lewis (24:57.9); 133. D.K. Schnieders (25:02.9); 172. Nolan White (25:24.8); 176. Hunter Griffin (25:28.6); 191. Nate Smith (25:36.6); 237. Matthew Wantland (26:05.4); 253. Wil Stamm (26:17.1); 261. Drew Belardo (26:24.3); 272. Alex Hooten (26:41.4); 273. Josh Smalley (26:41.6); 283. Joshua Striegel (26:56.9); 292. John Cason (27:23.0); 295. Alex Wallingford (27:42.2)

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