Elon women second, men fourth at Royal Cross Country Challenge

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Elon men’s and women’s cross country teams each turned in strong performances today, Oct. 14, in the Royal Cross Country Challenge at McAlpine Creek Park. The women finished second out of 21 teams with 83 points, while the men took fourth out of 19 teams with 120 points. The Phoenix added a total of five new times to both the men’s and women’s all-time performance lists.

Junior Morgan Denecke was the top female finisher for Elon taking ninth with a new personal best of 17:48.5, ranking as the second best time in program history. Sophomore Allyson Oram, the program record holder, took 11^th with a time of 17:57.6. Another personal best came from Emily Tryon who finished in 18:06.2 for 13^th. The junior’s time ranks sixth on the program’s all-time performance list.

Freshman Haylee Dawe earned 25^th after finishing in 18:32.5, while junior Christine Pacewicz crossed the finish line in 18:57.3 for 40^th. A personal best by sophomore Brennan McDavid of 19:02.7 placed her 46^th. Sophomore Kylie Womack rounded out the top seven finishers for the women in 48^th with a time of 19:13.6.

Freshman Luis Vargas led the men in sixth with a personal best of 24:59.5, which now ranks second on the men’s all-time performance list. Redshirt freshman Sean Magee added the third-best time to the performance list after finishing 10^th with a time of 25:09.1. The tenth time on the performance list now belongs to freshman Ari Rothschild who came in 28^th with a time of 25:49.4.

Senior Conor O’Bien took 31^st after finishing in 25:53, while freshman Adam Bernstein set a new personal record with a time of 26:35.1 that placed him 60^th. Sophomore Ben Perron (26:43.2) and senior Clay Sankey (26:47.4) earned 62^nd and 63^rd, respectively.

 

Davidson men first, women fifth at Royal Cross Country Challenge

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Senior Ryan Hopkins crossed the finish line 21 seconds before the second place finisher to lead the Davidson men’s cross country team to victory  Friday afternoon at the Royal Cross Country Challenge hosted by Queens University in McAlpine Park.

The Wildcats accumulated just 47 points in the 19-team field to finish 50 points ahead of second-place Queens. VMI was third (117 points), while Southern Conference foe Elon was fourth with 120 points. SoCon members Western Carolina (sixth place, 125 points) and The Citadel (10th, 292) also competed.

Six Davidson runners placed in the Top 20 of the 173-runner field. Hopkins led the way in 24 minutes, 1.6 seconds, besting unattached runner Matthew Elliot, who placed second in 24:23.0.

JuniorVincent Weir was the ‘Cats’ second finisher, placing eighth in 25:05.6. Junior Wes Reynolds (25:15.5), sophomore Grayam Sailor-Tynes (25:20.4) and sophomore Andrew Lantz (25:22.6) rounded out the Davidson scoring group, crossing theline in 14th, 15th and 16th place, respectively.

Senior Ian Tupper placed 20th in 25:36.0 and freshman Whitner Chase was 41st in 26:06.1 to complete the ‘Cats’ top seven.

With a pair of top-20 finishes by freshmen Erin Osment and Sarah Paddon,  the Davidson Wildcat women's cross country team finished fifth at the Royal Cross Country Challenge, hosted by Queens University at McAlpine Park Friday afternoon.

Osment paced the Wildcats with a 14th-place finish with a time of 18:09, while Paddon was 20th in 18:22. Classmate Manya Swick finished 26th for the 'Cats (18:34), and sophomore Megan Mavity (35th, 18:52) and freshman Lauren Carter (57th, 19:25) rounded out the scoring for Davidson.

The Wildcats finished fifth with 135 points, behind Florida State (36), Elon (83), Queens (104) and Western Carolina (111). Georgia Southern (230) finished eighth, and The Citadel placed 13th (314) — the only other two SoCon schools in the 21-team field.

 

Furman women win, men fifth at Blue Ridge Open

BOONE, N.C. -- The Furman women’s cross country team scored 56 points to win the Blue Ridge Open in Boone, N.C., Friday night, while the Paladins took fifth place in the men’s meet with 142 points.  George Mason won the men’s meet, notching 40 points in the men’s 8K race.  

Senior Erin Barker recorded a time of 18:02.7 to place third and pace the Paladin women on the 5K course.  Barker was followed by senior Brooke Mosteller in fourth place at 18:11.6, while freshman Sinead Haughey also turned in a top-10 finish, placing ninth with a time of 18:25.4.  Senior Chloe Kowalski finished 16th after turning in a time of 18:50.9, and sophomore Kacie Schoen came in 33rd with a time of 19:09.8 to round out the Paladin scorers.  

Senior Chris Caldwell led the Furman men’s team, placing 15th with a time of 25:33.0, followed by freshman Tripp Hurt, who placed 16th with a time of 25:35.3.  Junior Wilkerson Given took 27th place with a time of 25:48.0, while sophomore Jack Klecker posted a time of 26:08.6 for 45th place.  Freshman William Ivey placed 73rd with a time of 26:40.0 to complete the Furman scorers.  

 

Appalachian State men and women fourth at Blue Ridge Open

BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State University men's cross country finished fourth out of 23 teams at the Blue Ridge Open on Friday evening at the State Farm Fields in Boone.

Senior Chris Moen led the Mountaineers who finished in 15th place out of 153 runners with a time of 25:41.7.  Junior Alex Taylor crossed the finish line in 20th place with the time of 25:45.9.  Taylor was followed by junior Michael Lilley, senior Nick Kelly, and sophomore Mark Sullivan who finished 29th, 31st and 32nd respectively to round out Appalachian's top-five.

George Mason claimed the Blue Ridge Open title with 40 points and was followed by Wake Forest with 57 points.  The top two teams were followed by High Point (96 pts.), ASU (127 pts.), and Furman (142 pts.) to round out the top-five teams.

 Appalachian State University women's cross country finished fourth out of 21 teams at the 5k Blue Ridge Open on Friday evening at the State Farm Fields in Boone.

Junior Amanda Hamilton led the Mountaineers who finished in seventh place out of 141 runners with a time of 18.23.9.  Senior Hannah Orders crossed the finish line in 15th place with the time of 18:52.  Orders was followed  redshirt freshman Justine Stocks, junior Kaitlyn Cagle and junior Jenna Williamson who finished 22nd, 31st, and 40th respectively to round out Appalachian's top-five.

 Conference foe Furman claimed the Blue Ridge Open title with 56 points and was followed by Wake Forest with 77 points.  The top two teames were followed by High Point (82 pts.), ASU (115 pts.), and Campbell (177 pts.) to round out the top-five teams.

 

Georgia Southern women eighth at Royal Cross Country Challenge

Charlotte, N.C. – Georgia Southern Cross Country placed eighth at the Royal Cross Country Challenge Friday afternoon, as three runners recorded top-10 all-time University records for the 5K on a record setting day for the Eagles. Freshmen twin sisters Rebecca and Rachel Greenwall recorded the second and third fastest times in school history, posting times of 18:38.8 and 18:41.9 to place 28th and 29th, respectively. Rebecca’s time was 2.8 seconds short of the all-time record of 18:36 set by former Eagle Brittney Swick at the 2002 Auburn Bank Invitational.

Junior Sara Curry, who already owns two top-10 best times, added a third to the record books by posting a time of 18:57.6 to finish in 41st place.

Senior Brittany Martin posted her second lowest time as an Eagle, finishing in 90th place with a time of 20:18.8 and junior Lindsay Mullican posted her lowest time of the season (20:21.9) to finish in 92nd place. Freshman Megan Sullivan posted her second best time of the year to place 94th.

Sophomore Asea Mayfield recorded the lowest time of her collegiate career (20:32.1) to complete a record setting day for the Eagles.

 

Western Carolina women fourth, men sixth at Royal Cross Country Challenge

CHARLOTTE, N.C. --Junior Mara Smith recorded the fastest 5000m time in Western Carolina history Friday, while Nolan Clark posted a top-15 finish as WCU completed the Royal Cross Country Challenge in Charlotte, hosted by Queens College. Overall, the women's team placed fourth while the men finished sixth.

On the women's side, of the nine WCU women that competed, eight recorded personal bests, highlighted by Mara Smith clocking in at 17:44, finishing seventh overall. Behind Smith were Morgan Turner who placed 15th overall with a time of 18:11 and Olivia Jacobs finishing 21st with a time of 18:23. Smith, Turner and Jacobs all improved their Top 30 All-Time WCU Performance List times. Following the top three were Aleshia Reese (18:48), Kaylan Lance (19:14), Faith Trammel (19:44) and Hayley Tomlinson (19:58). Freshman Aleshia Reese and sophomore Kaylan Lance moved into the Top 30 List with their performances Friday. Michelle Provost recorded a 20:02 time. The women's team placed fourth out of 21 total teams, finishing ahead of SoCon rivals Davidson, Georgia Southern and The Citadel. Only Elon finished ahead of the Catamounts.

On the men's side, Nolan Clark, Chase Fisher, Travis Alfaro and Jake Swimmer all cracked the 26:00 barrier for the first time this season. Nolan Clark paced the men with a time of 25:11. Chase Fisher - with his time of 25:37 - improved his Top 30 list standing for the 8,000m along with Clark. Travis Alfaro (25:40) and Jake Swimmer (25:52) both moved into the Top 25 with their performances. Jake Englert crossed the line in 26:24. Garret West (27:07) and Aaron Harris (29:45) followed. All of these times were season bests. The men's team ranked sixth out of 19 teams.