SALISBURY, N.C. - Strong debuts from Brent Borden and Freshman Grace Lathrop kick off the 2022 season for the Carson-Newman cross country squad.
"I thought that Grace did a good job in her first collegiate cross country race," cross country head coach Mike Spooner said. "we're a young team, so there is going to be a learning curve. We've got one under our belt, and now we know what it will be like going forward."
The women's team finished fifth out of 14 in the 5K run with 117 points and a time of 1:44.36. The hosting team, Catawba, finished first with 42 points and a time of 1:38.05.
True freshman Grace Lathrop had the best time among Carson-Newman women runners with a time of 19:59.1. Her efforts were good enough for an 11th overall finish in the race. Katie Smock finished 19th with a time of 20:29.1, followed by Imke Van Gog with a time of 20:33.7 to finish 23rd.
"I know we are young. We can only get better from here. I'm excited to see how we piece things together for the rest of the year," Spooner said.
The men's team finished sixth in the 8K race with a score of 160 and a total time of 2:20.32. Wingate took first place with a score of 39 and a total time of 2:14.23.
Brent Borden led the way for the Eagles, finishing ninth with a time of 26:53.8. Raymond Brugmans was close behind Borden, finishing with a time of 27:02.9 to wind up in 14th place.
"Ray and Brent give us a solid one-two punch for the men's side," Spooner said. "We got off well, but we've got to be able to fight more in the middle of the course. Every sandwich is determined by the meat. We can't just be bread on bread."
Gemma Robollo from Wingate took the first-place honors on the women's side with a time of 18:35.0. Erick Ramirez from Catawba finished first for the men with a time of 25.34.5.
"We got a little bit of a wake-up call," coach Spooner said. "The team understands what we could've done better. It gives us an opportunity to self-reflect. It only goes up from here."
The Eagles will look to bounce back on September 16th when they travel to Cookeville, Tenn., to compete in the Golden Eagle Invitational.
