CHARLOTTE, N.C. - For the second time this season, Carson-Newman heads to the Tar Heel state to compete at McAlpine Park in the Royals Challenge on Friday, Oct. 8.
64 other teams are set to compete at the event, including division one schools Coastal Carolina, Elon, Gardner-Webb, SC State, Charlotte and Wake Forest. SAC foes Anderson, Limestone, Lincoln Memorial, Mars Hill, Newberry, Tusculum and host Queens will also compete at the meet.
This is the Eagles' second race of the year at McAlpine Park. The women's team finished 10th at the Queen City Challenge while the men finished 22nd on September 24. The meet was the first 8K run for the men since 2019. Raymond Brugmans led the Eagles with a 57th place finish in his first-ever 8K race. Overall, four Eagle men ran in their first-ever collegiate 8K race.
On the women's side, the Eagles set a school record for average time in a 5K with an average time of 19:30. The 10th place finish is also the highest finish the Carson-Newman women's team have ever placed at a race at McAlpine Park. Rachel Strayer led the women's team with a 27th place finish. Strayer has finished inside the top-30 in seven of her last nine races.
Last week was Carson-Newman's first regular season race in the state of Georgia since 2007. The women place 10th while the men placed 16th at the Asics Invitational in Fairburn, Ga.
The women have placed inside the top-10 in all three races this season. The last time the women's team placed inside the top-10 more than three times in a season was in 2017. The women finished third at the Tusculum Open, sixth at the Asheville Invitational, third in the Battle of Mossy Creek Run and eighth at the SAC Championships.
Individually, on the women's side, Lauren Tabor mader her debut for Carson-Newman last week, finishing 148th with a time of 21:26.63 in her first career 5K
Karli Yarid has broken her personal best in the 5K three meets in a row. The junior from Morristown broke her 5K last week by almost six full seconds with a time of 23:00.54
Yarid will look to break a streak of breaking personal bests set by Olivia Fanning, who failed to break her personal best in the 5K for the first time in her career last week. Fanning's streak ends at four meets in a row dating back to 2019. Fanning finished with a time of 21:48.9 and placed 162nd at the Asics Invitational.
The last time the men's team competed at the Royals Challenge was on Oct. 11, 2019. The men finished 29th with a total time of 2:14:42.70 and tallied 850 points. Conal McCambridge led the Eagles with a 54th place finish and a time of 25:17.3.
The men's team set the school record for average time in an 8K at the 2018 Royals Challenge with an average time of 26:25.33 at the event. Luke Greer also set the school record for the 8K at the event, finishing fifth overall with a time of 23:58.00.
The women's team last competed at the Royals Challenge at the 2018 edition of the event at McAlpine Park. The women finished 20th in the 5K with an average time of 19:33.86, a school record that stood until the 2021 Queen City Invite earlier this season. Strayer led the Eagles with a 31st place finish and set a new school record in the 5K as a freshman with a time of 18:14. Strayer would break her own record a year later at the 2019 Louisville Classic with a time of 18:12.50.
Both team's will run in the gold races. The women's gold 5K will begin at approximately 5:00 PM, with the men's gold 8K beginning shortly after at approximately 5:30 PM. Live updates will be available on twitter at the new home of Carson-Newman athletics at @cn_eagles.
