SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Carson-Newman cross country team wraps up their season in the Palmetto State at the 2021 NCAA DII Southeast Regional on Saturday, Nov. 6.
Teams from the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas, Peach Belt Conference and Gulf South Conference will be competing at the event. The day starts at 8:30 AM with the women's 6K run, followed by the men's 10K run at 9:30 AM.
To qualify for the national championship, the top two individuals who are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championship finals (16 individuals total). All individuals who finish in the top five at the regional meet and are not part of a qualifying team will automatically advance to the championships finals. The next eight individuals will be selected at-large, giving 24 qualifying racers from each regional.
"This course is very different than what we've usually raced at," says cross country coach Mike Spooner. "It's going to be colder which may help due to our morning runs here in a colder environment in Jefferson County so their bodies should be better prepared for the weather. It's a long course and not quite a fast course like McAlpine so they'll need to rely on core strength instead of raw speed. We've looked at the course less about it as a challenge and how we can get better."
The Eagles last competed two weeks ago on Oct. 23 in Charlotte at the 2021 SAC Cross Country Championships. 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, the third straight cross country season that Strayer has earned All-SAC honors.
The women's team earned a 7th place finish at the meet with a total time of 2:01.07. The Eagles saw a slew of personal bests set 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.
Olivia 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. The Eagles also set a new school record for fastest average time in a 6K run for the third straight year at the SAC Championships with an average time of 24:13
�� NEW. SCHOOL. RECORD. ��
— Carson-Newman Track / XC (@CN_Track) October 25, 2021
For the third straight year, the women's cross country team sets a new school record for average time in a 6K run at the @SAC_Athletics Championships! The Eagles finished 7th at the event with an average time of 24:13 pic.twitter.com/UcULMSCgb1
On the men's side, the Eagles finished 9th place in the 8K, with a total score of 263 points and a total team time of 2:18:43.
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. Trent Lovelace obliterated his personal best in the 8K by over 30 seconds, finishing 66th with a time of 28:01.8.
"We competed well at SAC," says Spooner. "The conference has gotten more competitive over the years. Rachel actually ran faster than in previous years but everyone else has improved. We were still about 20 points from finishing fourth and so we were close to closing the gap. On the guy's side, we had a runner get sick in the race so that affected us but there were some positive gains. With everyone being so young and most returning next year we have a lot to look forward to and a lot to look forward too and the effort was certainly there."
Carson-Newman's last postseason appearance as a team was at the 2019 NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals in Wingate, N.C. on Nov. 9, 2019. The women's team finished 17th with a time of 2:16:37.20 in the 6K run while the men's team finished 14th with a time of 2:55:44.00.
Strayer finished sixth in the 6K run in 2019 with a time of 22:20.60, at the time a school record in the 6K run. Strayer would break her own record a week later at the 2019 NCAA National Championships in Sacramento, Calif. with a time of 21:39.60. The performance made Strayer the first Carson-Newman women's cross country runner to earn All-American honors since 2008.
The men's team have just two runners who have competed in a 10k run in their time at Carson-Newman. Kirby Logan III finished 98th at the 2019 NCAA Southeast Regional with a time of 35:41.8, while Hunter Miller finished 104th at the same event with a time of 36:04.5.
"We have to control what we can control," says Spooner. "At the SAC Championships four of our top five ran their first ever 6K. On the guy's side we just need to focus on getting good race habits and put forth a good effort and giving our all."
Live stats for the event can be found via the link at cneagles.com, beginning at 8:30 am with the women's 6K run. Fans can also follow along on Twitter with updates from the new home of Carson-Newman athletics, @cn_eagles.
