CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Despite a solid day from Rachel Strayer, the Eagles saw their streak of top-10 finishes snapped at a soggy McAlpine Park.
The women's team finished the day in 20th place with a total team time of 1:39:24.90. The Eagles finished above division one teams Gardner-Webb and The Citadel, while also finishing above SAC rival Queens in the event with 520 points. Cedarville won the women's team championship with a score of 38 points and a time of 1:27:55.50.
Strayer led the Eagles with a 33rd place finish at the event, just missing out on tying her school record for the 5K with a time of 18:15.1. Strayer led the squad in points, scoring 30 points for the Eagles. Strayer has been the top finisher for the women's team in seven straight races, dating back to the 2019 season
Madison Dockery recorded a new personal best in the 5K, finishing 95th with 78 total points with a time of 19:11.1. Dockery has broken her personal best in the 5K three times this season, beating her former time by almost a full second at the Royals Challenge. Teammate Katie Smock just missed out on tying her personal best by 1.6 seconds, finishing 106th with a time of 19:18.7 and scoring 89 points.
Lauren Tabor reset her personal best in the 5K for the second week in a row, crushing her previous time by almost 23 seconds, finishing 216th with a time of 21:03.22 and 156 points. Olivia Fanning rounded out the scoring for the Eagles, finishing 238th with a time of 21:36.8 and scoring 167 points.
"We were down Imke this meet which hurt us a bit," says cross country coach Mike Spooner. "Our women's team is mixing it up well with some of the better conference teams and division one schools which is exciting as we head into conference. Strayer is still getting back to where she was in 2019 and despite a rough start for the team, they finished strong. Rachel Shaver also got to run today and we gained some lessons and only got better"
Mackenna Curtis-Collins of Malone won the individual 5K title with a time of 16:59.5.
On the men's side, the Eagles finished 31st, above former SAC rivals and current Division I institutions Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, scoring 927 points and finishing with a total time of 2:21:28.90. Charleston (WV) won the men's team title with a time of 1:58:58.10 and a score of 42 points.
Raymond Brugmans led the Eagles, finishing 196th with a time 26:42.3 and scoring 152 points.
Will Kolb and Trent Lovelace both set new personal bests at the Royals Challenge. Kolb finished 230th with a time of 27:13.1, besting his former personal record by almost four seconds. Loevelace finished 277th with a time of 28:33.0, beating his former best time by exactly one second.
Hunter Miller finished 293rd for the Eagles with a time of 29:14.4, while Christian Henry finished behind him at 301st place with a time of 29:46.1.
"We raced a little better than last week as a team," says Spooner. "It may not look it time wise but we are still building up to racing as a team. This is one of those meets where we can grow some character mentally and emotionally and this is a more lesson-learning type of meet."
Coen Roberts won the men's 8K individual championship with a time of 23:22.7.
The Eagles will take a week off before heading back to McAlpine Park for the 2021 SAC Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 23. The men's 8K will start at 9:00 am, while the women's 5K will start at 10:30 am.
"Having an open week helps us push a little bit," says Spooner. "Getting our bodies ready and recovering on the men's side and then on the women's side we've been able to build our strategy on racing against this conference and focus on building ourselves mentally."
