Women claim top-spot, men take second as Eagles compete in Tusculum Open

Final Stats

GREENEVILLE, Tenn.— The Carson-Newman cross country team began its 2016 season Friday evening as the women's club claimed the top-spot in the standings with a low of 34 points while the men came in second-place in the later race with a combined 52 points at the Tusculum Open.

"The women were solid by staying together and fighting right beside one another. For the men, we had two guys finish in the top-10 and a couple of more did really well," Stepp said. "Everyone got a good feel for where they stand. As a coaching staff, we are proud of them and happy to get a good idea of what we need to work on for our next challenge."

The Tusculum Open featured a two-loop, five-kilometer course that both the men and women competed on during the evening. The meet served as the 2016 opener for C-N in what is officially the second week of the Division II collegiate cross country season.

The women began the season on a high-note with the lowest overall point total in the meet. The competition included the Eagles in first-place with 34 points, Tusculum right behind with 35 points, Milligan in third-place with 59 points and Warren Wilson with 92 points to finish in fourth-place.

Sophomore Sky McCarter (Sevierville, Tenn.), who finished the 2015 season with two top-10 times with a best of third-overall at the Blue/Orange Meet, was the first Eagle to cross the finish line on the women's side with the second-best overall time of 22:00.9.  

"What a day from Sky McCarter. She ran her tail off and really impressed while doing it," Stepp said. "This was probably her best race of her young career and was a great way to begin the year."

Hannah Green (Talbott, Tenn.) finished three-runners behind McCarter with a time of 22:44.3—good enough for fifth-place while Sara Honaker (Mason, Ohio) and Rebekah White (Rockford, Tenn.) also claimed top-10 times to finish in eighth and ninth-place, respectively.

Sarah Sharp (Lewis Center, Ohio) rounded out the top-half of competitors with a 10^th-place time of 23:13.7 while Pricah Jemeli (Eldoret, Kenya) and Ashlyne Page (Knoxville, Tenn.) came in 14^th and 22^nd, respectively, to finish off the Eagles.

On the men's side, newcomer Amos Korir (Eldoret, Kenya) and Anthony Jackson (Manchester, Tenn.) paced Carson-Newman with sixth and seventh-place finishes as the squad posted an overall second-place team finish in the meet. Korir crossed the finish line with a time of 17:47.3 in his first-career race while Jackson kicked off his sophomore campaign with a five-kilometer time of 17:59.9.  

Behind the duo of Korir and Jackson, senior Nick Guerra (Richardson, Texas) came in 11^th-place overall with an 18:10.4 time while Kellan Sabol (New London, N.C.) and Alec Bross (Charlotte, N.C.) put forth top-20 performances with 17^th and 19^th-best times.

Freshman Britt Haney (Morristown, Tenn.) rounded out the Eagles on the day with a 21^st-place, 20:32.8 time.

Tusculum, the hosting institution, took home the gold on the day for the men with a low of 39 points. Carson-Newman finished right behind its rival with 52 points in second-place while Warren Wilson came in last with a 58 point total.

"It was a tough course. Going into today, we weren't looking to run fast. We just wanted to race and compete," coach Tyler Stepp said. "Speed wasn't a concern and because we were running later in the day, it was real hot on the course which featured a lot of hills. But again, it wasn't a day to run fast but a day to test ourselves and to see how in shape we are."  

Carson-Newman will resume competition in about three weeks at the Ashville Cross Country Challenge on October 1. Continual coverage of the Eagles can be found at cneagles.com throughout the season.

Carson-Newman Women: 1^st (34 points)

Carson-Newman Men: 2^nd (52 points)

-CN-