VIDEO: Acting coach Luke Greer previews the Queens Royals Challenge
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman cross country team will run their final regular season event of the season at the Queens Royals Challenge in Charlotte, N.C. on Oct. 11th, 2019.
Sophomore Rachel Strayer (Murfreesboro, TN) looks to continue her streak of top-three finishes after she won her first collegiate event at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational on Sept. 6th and finished third at the Louisville Classic on Oct. 5th.
"Right now it's just about building momentum for her and just building on what she did there," Carson-Newman acting coach Luke Greer said. "She ran a really fast time at 18:12 and we're just hoping that here at this next meet she can get another [personal record] and go under the 18-minute mark, I think that's been her goal for a while now."
With another high finish in Charlotte, Strayer would build further upon a strong bid she has to be invited to the NCAA National Championships in Sacramento, California on Saturday, Nov. 23rd, 2019.
"We're just hoping that the momentum she got from Louisville she can use and she can maintain," Greer said. "…Hopefully once she runs well at Queens this coming weekend we can bring that into conference and regionals and hopefully nationals at the end of the season."
Freshman Klara Naude (South Africa) has been the second-place Eagles finisher on the women's side in the past two events. She placed 65th at the Wingate Invitational and 292nd out of over 500 participants at the Louisville Classic.
"This is her first season running cross country and to do what she's doing is pretty incredible," Greer said. "I just want her to keep doing what she's doing and just keep building on what she's learning and using that new experience to just keep getting better and using what we're doing in practice and using what she's learning in the races to maintain her momentum and getting better."
On the men's side, Graduate student Conal McCambridge (United Kingdom) has been the top for the Eagles in every race this season. He took third at Lenoir-Rhyne, 10th at Wingate and finished 50th out of 515 runners at the Louisville Classic.
"It was a tough race for him at Louisville, he's not a man for the fast races, unfortunately," Greer said. "This Queens one is going to be another fast race but he's going to stick himself in the right positions and he's just going to grind out and he's going to do the best he can."
Greer hopes these races can serve as training for McCambridge to prepare him for a successful appearance at the South Atlantic Conference and Regional Championships in Wingate, North Carolina. Strong showings at those events could also lead to a berth to the NCAA National Championships.
"Hopefully this bit of speed work that we're doing will help him when we get to Wingate where it will be a grind," Greer said. "It's a tougher course at Wingate, more hills, it's going to be a hard course, it's not going to be a flat one like it is at Queens."
Freshman Jasper Wilson (Chickamauga, GA) has been the second-best finisher on the men's side at all three events thus far for the Eagles including a 115th-place finish at the Louisville Classic with a time of 26:27.5.
"I think he's just really enjoying his racing," Greer said. "He's building his confidence, I think this last one at Louisville he ran a really fast time and I think he was really happy with it."
Two of the SAC's top programs, Queens University and Wingate University will be attending the event.
"It's great to be able to rub shoulders against the best in our conference," Greer said. "To be able to see what they're doing and how close we are to them is also important. I think each race we feel like we're getting closer to them. I mean, we still have a way to go, don't get me wrong but it's really great to be able to see what their programs are doing and what we want to achieve."
Be sure to keep up with the C-N cross country team across Carson-Newman's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.