RINGGOLD, Ga. – The Eagles Cross Country made the trip down to Ringgold, Ga. for the Nooga At Night meet on Saturday, Oct. 12 where both men and women's squads earned first place finishes.
"Overall, the night was a good night for the team," said eagles head coach Brent Borden. "We had a ton of PR's across the board and came away with a first place finish on the men's and women's side. Two individual first place finishes and several top-5 finishes. It was a really great night all around, prime conditions and a night race really made for some big PR's."
After a difficult course in the Georgia Tech Invitational last week, the Eagles bounced back with a dominant performance in the final regular season race of the year. Both men and women squads competed in a 5K race on the flattest course the team saw this season.
"The team handles the 5K distance great," said Borden. "It was a bit of an adjustment to run late in the evening but everyone loved it and enjoyed it. We took some time to get our bodies in the rhythm of practicing later in the day and holding workouts later in the afternoon. I think that really helped us shift into the right framework and mindset going into this meet."
The men's squad earned first place with a final score of 35 points. C-N was fourteen points over Young Harris who was the next closest team racking up 49 points. The team had four top-fifteen finishes with performances from Colten Lee winning first overall in the race with a time of 14:25. Other top runners include Bryson Burkett placing fourth overall (15:15), Henry Hunter placing tenth overall (15:36), and Garrett Wilson placing fifthteenth overall (15:50).
"We had several big finishes today from the team," Borden said. "Obviously we were thrilled to come away with the win on both sides. Highlighted by Jenna Pittman and Colten Lee both winning first overall in their races. Bryson Burkett placing fourth overall with a PR in the 5K and Henry Hunter with a tenth place finish and a PR as well."
On the women's side, the team also earned a first place finish with a final score of 38 points with the next closest team being Dalton State with 48 points. There were four runners that finished Top-15 in the 5K race led by first overall performance from Jenna Pittman with a personal best time of 17:29. Other top runners in this race include third overall finish Maggie Hope with a personal best time of 18:06, Peyton Couch placing sixth overall in a personal best time of 18:20, and Carmela Smock coming in thirteenth overall in 19:06.
"Jenna Pittman won first on the women's side with a PR in the 5K," said Borden. "Maggie Hope set a huge 5K PR today as well as Peyton Couch and Carmrela Smock. I'm very proud of this team, and we really enjoyed this meet."
"I am very proud of the team tonight," Borden said. "They went out there and had fun, but they also were focused, motivated, and ran with intentionality. They ran with purpose and trusted in themselves and their ability to go out there and win the race. Trusting the work they put in throughout this entire year and Summer and leaning on each other to come through tonight."
Carson-Newman gets a week off before in order to prepare for the South Atlantic Conference Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 26 in Newberry, S.C. beginning at 9:00 a.m.
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