Posted: Sep 23, 2021
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Carson-Newman cross country team heads to Charlotte, N.C. for the first of a trio of races this season at McAlpine Park on Friday, Sept. 24 for the 2021 Queen City Invite.
The women will compete in a five kilometer race beginning at 4:15 PM. The men's eight kilometer race is set to begin at approximately 5:00 P.M.
The Queen City Invite will feature 38 total teams, including Division I competitors from Coastal Carolina, Charlotte, SC State and Troy. 16 Division II teams will compete, including Anderson, Limestone, Tusculum and host Queens from the SAC.
"This has been a great time for our team to get back into race mode," says cross country coach Mike Spooner. "In the summer we didn't have time to get ready and we've had three weeks to get back into the mindset of how we run races. I'm very proud of how we've worked over the past few weeks. Mentally we've gone to work and have got it done in this gray area of trying to see how we are."
Carson-Newman last competed at the Tusculum Open in Greeneville, Tenn. on Friday, Sept. 3. The women's team finished second in the 5K race with four Eagles finishing in the top-10. Rachel Strayer finished third with a time of 20:09.07, her third top-10 finish in her last four races. Madison Dockery and Katie Smock made their debuts for the Eagles at the event, with Dockery placing fifth with a time of 20:45.10 while Smock placed sixth with a time of 21:35.60. Olivia Fanning earned her first career top-10 finish with a new personal best time of 22:38.80.
On the men's side, Raymond Brugmans lead the way in the men's 5K race in Greeneville, finishing second in his first collegiate race with a time of 16:09.0. Teammate Kirby Logan III earned his first career top-15 finish, placing 14th with a time of 17:11.9. The Eagle men finished third at the event with 72 points. The men's team also shattered a four year-old record for best average team time in a 5K, finishing the meet with an average race time of 17:13.
�� NEW SCHOOL RECORD ��
— Carson-Newman Track / XC (@CN_Track) September 7, 2021
The #CNXC men's team set a new mark for best average time in a 5K this weekend with an average time of 17:13, shattering the old record set in 2017 by 21 seconds! pic.twitter.com/Ow6vHuSm8m
"The Tusculum Open was an oppurtunity to teach them how we need to run races going forward," says Spooner. "It was also a time to catch up on our training. It was also good to take the mental notes to see what we need to do with each athlete to get better for the bigger races."
This is the first of three regular season meets in the Queen City for Carson-Newman. The Eagles return to McAlpine Park for the Royals Challenge on Oct. 8 and the 2021 SAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 23. It is the first time that Carson-Newman has competed at the same course twice in the regular season since 2018 when the Eagles also competed in two meets at McAlpine Park.
"Racing at Mossy Creek gives us a little advantage at McAlpine," says Spooner. "We also have moved around to the Dam that has similar gravel to McAlpine so our team can mentally and physically prepare for a similar course they'll see this year multiple times."
The Carson-Newman men's team last raced at McAlpine Park at the 2019 Royals Challenge, finishing 29th. Conal McCambridge lead the Eagles with a 54th place finish in the 8K run with a time of 25:17.3. The Eagles' women's squad last raced at McAlpine Park at the 2018 Royals Challenge, finishing 20th. Rachel Strayer lead the team with a 31st place finish and a time of 18:14.00 in the 5K run.
The men's team's highest finish at McAlpine Park came in 2010 at the Royals Challenge. The squad placed eighth in the 8K run lead by Jonathan Madden's 15th place finish with a time of 28:07.00. The women's team's highest finish in the Queen City came at the 2014 McAlpine Invitational where the Eagles finished 14th. Tori Gaul lead C-N in the 5K run, finishing 62nd with a time of 20:34.1.
This is also the first 8K race for the men since the 2019 SAC Championships. As a team, the Eagles scored 200 points and racked up an eighth-place finish. McCambridge lead the team with a 16th place finish with a time of 26:46.50. The team finished with an average time of 28:18.00.
"We've bumped up our mileage a bit over the past few weeks in practice to get ready for a longer race," says Spooner. "The main thing is that the mentality of racing a 5K does not change in an 8K. We're going to be aggressive and get out front early. Ray did that at Tusculum and had a fantastic race. We're going to race like we belong, not to just hang on. Our aggressive attitude is going to help out as the season goes on."
Following this weekend's race in Charlotte, the Eagles will wait just eight days before competing in their largest regular season meet of the year, the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday, Oct. 2.
