CHARLOTTE, NC – The Carson-Newman men's and women's cross-country teams performed well against a competitive field at the Royals XC Challenge on Friday, as the men placed 11^th and the women finished 10^th.

"I'm pretty pleased with our result," interim head coach Whit Lee said. "It was a very competitive field… We're still trying to figure out racing strong late in races, but we still showed resilience in the trial today despite having some heavy legs."

Colten Lee led the men's side, following his first-place finish at ASICS with a 13th-place finish in the gold division at the Royals XC Challenge with an 8k time of 25:00.61.

"It was another good race from Colten," Lee said. "Seeing him finish in the top 15 in a strong field was remarkable. We continue to rely on him to get us that low-scoring number to help our team result."

The second Eagle to cross the finish line in the gold division was Raymond Brugmans, crossing at 26:49.25 in 99^th. Brugmans was shortly followed by Will Kolb, finishing in 110^th at 27:04.71. Brent Borden followed, performing well despite still finding his stride after coming off of injury, finishing 128^th at 27:24.04.

Other finishers in the gold division include Garrett Wilson at 178^th, Trent Lovelace at 179^th, Cooper Carr at 190^th, Christian Henry at 195^th, and Andrew Thompson at 199^th.

The Eagles also saw success in the blue division, with Tyler Jones finishing in 58^th at 29:02.02, Sam Cline in 67^th at 29:20.78, and Nick Noble in 172^nd at 34:05.22. 

For the women, Katie Smock led the Eagles in the 5k, finishing in 30^th at 18:38.25. Imke Van Gog shortly followed in 34^th at 18:46.07. Jenna Pittman had another solid performance, coming in at 52^nd at 19:03.35. McKenna Spaulding became the fourth Eagle to cross, finishing in 104^th at 19:54.74, with Peyton Couch coming in shortly after in 123^rd at 20:13.78.

"Katie led the way for our ladies with another good result from Imke," Lee said. "We've still got some stuff to figure out concerning closing the gap from our front pack to that second group."

Other finishers for the Eagles include Maggie Hope in 133^rd, Nicole Griffith in 197^th, and Karli Yarid in 214^th.

After another solid performance in the Royals XC Challenge, Lee and the Eagles focus on recovering to prepare for the next race.

"These next two weeks, our focus is going to be feeling fresh," Lee said. "Getting our legs under us and having our best race of the season when we go to the SAC meet in Hickory."

The Eagles will take the next two weeks to prepare for the SAC Championships on October 21^st.