CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Carson-Newman women's cross country set a new school best 10th place finish at the Queen City Invite on Friday, September 24.
"We took some steps forward," says cross country coach Mike Spooner. "For a lot of our guys it was their first time in an 8K. On the women's side, we were without one of our best runners but the team we had today raced well. We certainly have gotten more comfortable racing as a team."
The Eagles tallied 336 total points and set a new school record for average 5K race time, shattering the former record of 19:33.86 set in 2018 at the same meet with an average time of 19:30.00. Carson-Newman finished ahead of division one schools Coastal Carolina, SC State and The Citadel, and also finished above conference rival Tusculum at the event. Milligan took home the team championship with a score of 58 points.
The 10th place finish is the highest the Eagles women's cross country team has ever placed at McAlpine Park.
�� NEW SCHOOL RECORD ��
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 24, 2021
With an average time of 19:30.00, the #CNXC women's team shatters their record for average time in a 5K by almost three minutes at the Queen City Invite pic.twitter.com/2ehQTUSKG8
Rachel Strayer once again lead the way for Carson-Newman, finishing 27th with a time of 18:28 in the women's 5K run. It is the second-highest finish for Strayer at McAlpine Park as the Murfreesboro, Tenn. native finished 24th at the same event in 2018.
Imke Van Gog made her debut for the orange and blue, finishing 52nd with a time of 19:01. Teammate Madison Dockery finished behind her teammate at 58th, shattering her personal best in the 5K by almost 90 seconds with a time of 19:12.
Katie Smock saw her personal best in the 5K broken by over two minutes, finishing 65th with a time of 19:17. Olivia Fanning rounded out the scoring for the Eagles, setting a new personal best in the 5K as well with a time of 21:34 and a 155th place finish.
Lead by @rachelmstrayer, the women's #CNXC squad earns a top 10 spot at the Queen City Invite, the team's highest finish at McAlpine Park in school history. @CN_Track pic.twitter.com/yFs1vWzILG
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 24, 2021
Karli Yarid broke her personal best in the 5K by almost a full minute, finishing the race with a time of 23:06.
"This was a big step forward on the womens side," says Spooner. "In recent years we haven't finished this high in a large meet. Rachel had a good day, but is still getting back into the flow. Imke had a great debut and for Katie and Madison to take a step forward from Tusculum was huge. There's a lot more meat on the bone for the women's team and we moved forward competitively."
Fatima Alanis of Queens edged out Lemi Wutz of Milligan by one second to win the individual women's 5K title with a time of 17:07.
On the men's side, the Eagles finished inside the top-25 for the third meet in a row, finishing 22nd with a total time of 2:16.11, just missing the school record mark in an 8K race by two minutes set back at the same course in 2018. The Eagles finished above division one schools SC State and Liberty, and finished above SAC foes Limestone and Coker at the meet. Milligan also took home the men's team title with 33 points and a time of 2:01.56.
"We're playing catch up from this summer and getting back to a good fitness level," says Spooner. "For the guys, the biggest gain is to getting used to that distance before conference. I think we'll grow more from running that distance than any workout. Not the finish that our guys wanted but we'll keep our heads high and race agressive and get stronger and get our minds right."
Raymond Brugmans continued to shine for the Eagles in his first ever 8K race. The Dutchman placed 56th with a time of 25:54 at the event to lead the convocation.
Kirby Logan III just missed on setting a new personal best in the 8K, finishing 140th with a time of 27:05. Teammate Will Kolb finished behind him at 146th in his first collegiate 8K with a time of 27:17.
Hunter Miller also just missed out on resetting his 8K personal best, finishing 162nd with a time of 27:40. Christian Henry rounded out the scoring for the Eagles, placing 185th in his first collegiate 8K with a time of 28:15.
Raymond Brugmans earns a top-60 finish in his first ever 8K as the #CNXC men's squad takes 22nd at the Queen City Invite @CN_Track pic.twitter.com/qioT0Kp4HS
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 24, 2021
Trent Lovelace finished with a time of 28:34 in his first collegiate 8K, while Benjamin White broke his personal best in the event by over minute, finishing the race with a time of 36:07.
Isaac Prather of Concord won the individual men's 8K title with a time of 23:43.
Between the men's and women's teams, the Eagles broke five personal bests in the 5K and five personal bests in the 8K.
Carson-Newman returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 2 for the Asics Invitational in Fairburn, Ga. The men's 8K begins at 7:50 AM with the women's 5K running at 8:50 am.
