FAIRBURN, GA. - Seven Carson-Newman runners finish within the top 30 in their respective races Saturday morning at the Asics invitational.
Big performances from Brent Borden (18th), Colten Lee (19th), Raymond Brugmans (26th), Katie Smock (14th), Imke Van Gog (16th), Grace Lathrop (26th), and Ashley Tuell (28th) lead the Eagles to a record-breaking day against multiple division one schools.
The men's and women's teams finished third in the competition. The third-place result for the men's team is the highest ranking in a meet, with more than 10 schools competing in the race. The Eagles finished higher than division one schools Wofford University and Covenant University.
Brent Borden's 25:57.9 finish shatters his previous season's best by almost 30 seconds.
Colten Lee finishes just two seconds behind Borden with an official time of 25:59.82. Lee's finish was the highest result for a Carson-Newman freshman since 2019, when Hunter Miller finished 14th at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational.
Raymond Brugmans finished with a time of 26:25.73, good enough for his second-best time at the college level. His best time was at the Queen City Invite, when he finished with a time of 25:54.0.
The women's team's third-place finish is their best in a race with more than 10 teams since the 2003 season.
Katie Smock set a new personal best at the meet with a time of 18:39.57. Her previous best was at the Queen City Invite when she finished with a time of 19:17.0. 14th was also her best result since her debut at the Tusculum Open when she finished 6th.
Imke Van Gog finished 10 seconds behind Smock with an official time of 18:49.97. Van Gog also set a new personal best. Her previous best was established at the Queen City Invite when she finished with a time of 19:01.0. Last year, Van Gog finished 35th at the Asics Invitational with a time of 19:21.5.
Freshman Grace Lathrop finished with a time of 19:33.24, setting a new personal best in her young career. Her previous best was at her first race earlier this year when she finished with a time of 19:59.1 at the Fleet Feet Invitational.
Fellow Freshman Ashley Tuell also set a new best time with a 19:46.27 time. She shatters her previous best of 21:42.1 at the Fleet Feet Invitational. Her 28th overall finish is also the best of her young career.
Another Freshman, Maggie Hope, broke her previous 5K personal best by over three minutes. Hope finished with a time of 20:15.19.
Junior Autumn Brazzell was the final Lady Eagle to finish at the meet. She finished with a time of 21.22.98, another personal best set on the day.
Will Kolb finished 41st at the meet with a time of 27:25.04.
Hunter Miller finished with a time of 27:33.18, good enough for 47th place. Hunter Miller's finish sets a new personal best for the Senior runner.
Christian Henry is the next Eagle to capture a new personal best at the meet. Henry finished with a time of 27:42.13. His previous best time was at the Queen City Invite when he finished with a time of 28:15.0. Trent Lovelace was the next Eagle to finish, coming in at 65th. Lovelace finished the race with a time of 28:04.9. Lovelace was just three seconds shy of his previous best of 28:01.8 at the SAC Cross Country Championship.
Kirby Logan finished 78th with a time of 28:34.25.
Freshman Andrew Thompson was the final Eagle to complete the race. He finished with a time of 28:55.89. The young Eagle crushed his previous best of 30:36.4 set at the Golden Eagle Invitational two weeks ago.
Georgia Tech took first place for both the men's and women's events.
Lesley Green took home the first-place prize for the women's race with a time of 17:24.71.
Savage Running's Joshua Wagner took first place for the men with a time of 24:40.55.
Carson-Newman will continue their season when they head to Huntsville, AL., for the D2 Festival Year Showcase on October 22nd.
For more information about your favorite Eagle runners, visit CNEagles.com or follow @CN_Eagles on Twitter.
