CHARLOTTE, N.C. - For the third straight season, Rachel Strayer was named All-SAC for cross country as the Carson-Newman women's team finished seventh at the 2021 SAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Strayer paced the women's team with a 19th place finish, good enough to be named Third-Team All-SAC with a time of 22:40.7 in the women's 6K run. This is the third straight cross country season that Strayer has earned All-SAC honors. The senior out of Murfreesboro, Tenn. was Freshman Runner of the Year for the SAC in 2018 and was First-Team All-SAC in 2019. The SAC did not hold the cross country championships in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
�� With a 19th place finish in the Women's 6K, @rachelmstrayer earns Third-Team All-SAC honors @CN_Track
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 23, 2021
It's the third straight year that Strayer has been named All-SAC pic.twitter.com/bGBMFxJx8A
The rest of the top-five for the Carson-Newman women's team saw all new personal bests in the 6K run. Katie Smock finished 35th with a time of 23:43.1, while fellow freshman Imke Van Gog finished 41st with a time of 24:17.2.
Madison Dockery finished just two spots behind Van Gog in her first career 6K, finishing 43rd with a time of 24:20.0. Lauren Tabor rounded out the scoring for the women's team with a time of 26:05.8 and a 64th place finish.
All-SAC honors for @rachelmstrayer, while Smock, Van Gog, Dockery and Tabor all set personal bests in the 6K run en route to a 7th place finish@CN_Track pic.twitter.com/fd9kp39S1q
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 23, 2021
Oliva Fanning demolished her previous personal best in the 6K with a time of 26:36.9, almost two full minutes faster than her previous best mark.
"We were about 20 points away from fifth place, which is a good place to be at with how young we are," says cross country coach Mike Spooner. "We're a young team but we can improve on that mark before regionals. Strayer continues to be strong and seeing Fanning break her personal best by so much is a huge step for her in her senior year."
Wingate won the women's team championship with a time of 1:48.41. Bulldog runner Lara Orrock took home the individual championship with a time of 20:52.3.
The men's team finished 9th place in the 8K, with a total score of 263 points and a total team time of 2:18:43. Wingate took home the team championship after scoring 24 points and running a team time of 2:00:22.
Raymond Brugmans led the Eagles with a 50th place finish and a time of 26:47.5. Brugmans has led the Carson-Newman men's team at every single race this season.
Will Kolb set a new personal best in the 8K. The freshman demolished his previous best time by almost 15 full seconds, finishing 56th with a time of 26:58.0. Teammate Kirby Logan III finished behind Kolb at 62nd with a time of 27:36.4.
Trent Lovelace obliterated his personal best in the 8K by over 30 seconds, finishing 66th with a time of 28:01.8. Hunter Miller rounded out the scoring for the Eagles, finishing 82nd with a time of 29:19.3.
New personal bests for Trent Lovelace and Will Kolb as @CN_Track finishes 9th at the @SAC_Athletics Cross Country Championships pic.twitter.com/sqPpfW5QiH
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 23, 2021
Jan Lukas Becker of Queens took home the individual men's championship, finishing first in the 8K run with a time of 23:50.5.
The men's team were predicted to finish eighth in the conference in the SAC preseason poll. It is the first time the team has finished lower than 8th since 2015 when the men's squad finished 10th at the conference championships.
"We had some injury and stomach bug issues today that slowed us down," says Spooner. "But we've gotten more aggressive and have learned how to run better as a team over this season. Will and Trent have come on strong as of late. I'm confident we'll end strong at the Regional."
Both teams will race at the 2021 NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals in Spartanburg, S.C. in two weeks on Saturday, Nov. 6. For more information and cross country coverage, go to cneagles.com or follow the Eagles on twitter at @cn_eagles
