CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Eight personal records were set for the Carson-Newman cross country teams as the men finished 17th and the women 14th overall concluding their run at the Queens City Invitational.
After coming out with a first-place finish in his season opener at Lenoir-Rhyne on September 14th, Luke Greer proved he was just getting started. The senior from Abington, United Kingdom had another solid race for the men coming in 7thplace out of 249 runners with a time of 24:45.
"Great race for Luke." Assistant coach Eric Phillips said. "He was the top guy in the conference and region today. There was only one other DII guy ahead of him from Florida Southern but he was ahead of the others by a good amount so that was exciting. He ran very well, a very consistent race which is what we've been working on. He shows a lot of potential for the future and we're really excited about where he's headed."
The rest of the men had personal achievements for themselves as all but Greer and Kelvin Ronoh (Kenya) set personal records in the race. Ronoh and Anthony Jackson (Manchester, Tenn.) finished second and third for the Eagles with times of 27:48 and 27:55. The twins from Brighton, Tennessee, Cameron and Brandon McKinley, followed with times of 27:58 and 29:06. Finishing out the race for the men were Rafael Adame and Jared Eddy (Harrison, Tenn.) with times of 30:25 and 32:16.
"Our strength is starting to show," Coach Phillips said. "As far as strength and conditioning goes we're making great progress every day."
The women's team showed up and showed out with personal records of their own as freshman Rachel Strayer led the ladies once again. Strayer came in 24thplace overall out of 262 runners with a personal best time of 18:23.
"Rachel is definitely a force for the team." Phillips said of Strayers efforts. "She was the second South Atlantic Conference finisher for the girls, coming behind Lenoir-Rhyne. Being a true freshman, she was just phenomenal, it was a huge PR out of her. She's got a long way to improve still, but I think it will be a terrific season for her."
Coming in behind Strayer was Lindsey Williams and Priscah Jemeli (Eldoret, Kenya) with times of 20:10 and 20:20. Bekah White (Rockford, Tenn.) and Aubree Cole followed at 20:43 and 20:51. Alexis Brown and Skye McCarter (Sevierville, Tenn.) rounded out the race for the women with times of 20:53 and 21:34. Along with Strayer, Brown and Williams set personal records in the invitational.
"All of them are closing the gap on each other, every time we race." Phillips said of the women's team. "If we can continue to close the gaps and work on the pack with each race we'll be pretty scary come the end of the season."
Both the men and women went head to head with roughly 30 other schools and both finished in the top twenty.
"It was a great day for us, I'm really excited about how things worked out." Coach Phillips said. "We still have a long way to go, the season's young. When we head back to Queens in a couple of weeks, it'll be a bigger race with more SAC teams and southeast teams, so it'll be a huge check for us. We got to see the course today and they're ready and hungry for the next time. We know what we need to work on and we'll be back to take another step forward. It'll definitely be a dogfight in there but we're excited. I'm personally very excited about where the team is going so we'll just keep building and see how things happen."
The Eagles will compete again on October 12thfor their final race before the championship season travelling to Queens once again, for the Royals Challenge.
For more information and updates shimmy on back to cneagles.com.
Men's Results:
| Team Position | Overall Position | Name | Time |
| 1 | 7 | Luke Greer | 24:45 |
| 2 | 106 | Kelvin Ronoh | 27:48 |
| 3 | 114 | Anthony Jackson | 27:55 |
| 4 | 120 | Cameron McKinley | 27:58 |
| 5 | 162 | Brandon McKinley | 29:06 |
| 6 | 188 | Rafael Adame | 30:25 |
| 7 | 218 | Jared Eddy | 32:16 |
Women's Results:
| Team Position | Overall Position | Name | Time |
| 1 | 24 | Rachel Strayer | 18:23 |
| 2 | 116 | Lindsey Williams | 20:10 |
| 3 | 124 | Priscah Jemeli | 20:20 |
| 4 | 134 | Bekah White | 20:43 |
| 5 | 143 | Aubree Cole | 20:51 |
| 6 | 144 | Alexis Brown | 20:53 |
| 7 | 171 | Skye McCarter | 21:34 |
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