JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman cross-country teams earned All-SAC selections over the weekend, with Colten Lee for the men and Imke Van Gog and Katie Smock for the women.
With his 9th place finish at the SAC Championships, Lee becomes the first Eagle to earn the all-conference honor since 2019. Earning all-conference honors in only his second year with the Eagles, Lee credits the hard work and training that fueled his improvement from year one to year two.
"I felt confident in training leading up to our race, and mentally, I was very focused," Lee said. "To be all-conference was very humbling to accomplish one of my goals for the season and very motivating to see the results of everything we have done."
Despite the all-conference selection, Lee sees room for improvement and has his sights set higher.
"I put myself in a position to be all-conference by leading the first mile and jumping out early," Lee said. "I also know that there is a lot of room for improvement to be made for regionals to place higher."
Imke Van Gog earned All-SAC honors on the women's side with a 17th-place finish. With the all-conference selection, Van Gog is honored to be a part of an elite group of runners, and she credits much of her success to her team.
"It means a lot to me," Van Gog said. "I really worked together with the first people in our team, and we tried to be as fast as possible."
With three all-conference selections between the men and the women, Van Gog believes it says a lot about the trajectory of the Carson-Newman cross-country program.
"I think the program is improving a lot," Van Gog said. "To have three runners in all-conference and the rest were also close together, so everyone is getting faster and faster."
Katie Smock earned All-SAC honors with her 20th-place finish at Southside Park, and she credits the hard work put in over the course of the season.
"It's very rewarding," Smock said. "To have worked hard all season, showed up every day, just to see that pay off, and for all of our girls, we did great out there showing what we've done all season."
With one race left to go in the season, Smock has seen the Eagles improve tremendously and expects to see that improvement continue at the South Regional.
"We've closed the gap between our girls even more each race," Smock said. "Seeing that over each race, just making those gaps smaller, it's been good seeing that pay off."
In the last race of the season, Smock expects her team to give it their all.
"Leaving it all out there is the big thing," Smock said. "Even though it's regions, still trying to get the best team score we can get and just working together to get good PRs and times for everybody."
After an impressive showing at the SAC Championships, the Eagles will regroup and prepare for the Southeast Regional on November 4th in Oakwood, Ga.
