VIDEO: Luke Greer Previews the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational
HICKORY, N.C. – The Carson-Newman cross country team is gearing up for its first event of the season at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational on Friday, Sept. 6 at 3 p.m.
The young team includes seven total freshmen and there are only two upperclassmen on the men's and women's sides respectively.
"We've had a good couple of weeks of training so we're looking good and I'm just hoping that everyone kind of just goes out there and gives it one-hundred percent," acting coach Luke Greer said.
"We've been working on a few things and hopefully they can put that into practice… and we'll move on from there and see what we need to improve on from the race."
Sophomore Rachel Strayer (Murfreesboro, T.N.) has a chance to start her sophomore year the same way she began her freshman campaign, with a strong finish at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational. Strayer finished 13th in last year's race on her way to earning All-Conference and All-Region Honors.
"On the men's side it's free game for all of them, they're all really great athletes," Greer said. "On the women's side, the same thing, we've got a lot of young people… obviously we've got Rachel Strayer coming back who was freshman of the year in the conference so obviously we're expecting big things from her"
"We're hoping that this isn't the finished product that we see but a product that will continue to develop," Track and Field Director David Needs said.
As Hurricane Dorian continues to pummel the Southeastern United States, the Eagles have established a contingency plan in case the event is canceled.
"If the meet gets canceled we have backup plans to go somewhere else so we've got that in mind," Greer said.
Barring interference from Mother Nature, the event can be followed across C-N social media.
