Lions run to new record times at Royals XC Challenge
The Mars Hill men's cross country team finished a strong 10th place of 23 NCAA Division II teams in competition and placed 17th of 36 teams overall at the Royals XC Challenge, hosted at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday evening over the 8k race distance. Sean Sanchez became the 25th fastest Mars Hill University cross country runner of all-time over the 8k race distance.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's cross country team finished a strong 10th place of 23 NCAA Division II teams in competition and placed 17th of 36 teams overall at the Royals XC Challenge, hosted at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday evening over the 8k race distance. The Lions continue to be led by a strong pack of six runners made up of five freshman runners and one returning runner. With a tremendous run, freshman Sean Sanchez also earned a spot as the 25th fastest Mars Hill University cross country runner of all-time over the 8k race distance.
With another extremely strong pack showing, the Lions ran 6 deep for much of the 8k race distance with Sean Sanchez, Eli Taylor, Sawyer Cripps, Braxton Cummings, Brandon McNulty, and Matthew O'Connor all making their presence known. After moving up steadily throughout the middle section of the race and passing dozens of runners, freshman Sean Sanchez finished the last 3k extremely strong to come out on top for the Lions with a massive personal best time of 26:03 over the 8k distance. Fellow freshman Eli Taylor and Sawyer Cripps finished just a few seconds behind Sanchez, with times of 26:29 and 26:34. (also new personal best times)
Rounding out the top six pack were freshman Brandon McNulty and Braxton Cummings who both dipped under 27 minutes for the first time in their career over the 8k race distance, stopping the clock at 26:55 and 26:59. Freshman Matthew O'Connor also finished with a new personal best time of 27:17 to round out the Mars Hill cross country runners in the Gold Race.
With these times in only their second attempt of the 8k race distance, freshman Sean Sanchez, Eli Taylor, Sawyer Cripps, and Brandon McNulty have moved their names higher on the vaunted Mars Hill Men's Cross Country Freshman 8k leaderboard in positions 5, 11, 16, and 24 respectively and they look to advance higher on the record board throughout the season.
Thoughts from Coach Benge:
"The men showed another great example of pack running yet again this evening with six runners in the lead pack for the first half of the race. This pack running allowed the men to move up throughout the race and finish with the fastest team average time of the season at 26:36. The results this season continue to show exciting progress of the team and bode well for the future with five freshman in the top six runners and four of them earning positions on the Mars Hill Cross Country Men's 8k Freshman Leaderboard! Extra kudos to Sean for earning a position on the Mars Hill Cross Country All-Time 8k Leaderboard as the 25th fastest runner in the long history of Mars Hill Cross Country. The men will look to carry this momentum forward to the South Atlantic Conference Championship in two weeks!"
To view the full list of times, please click here.
The Mars Hill men's cross country team next competes at the South Atlantic Conference Championship on Saturday, October 26th. That race is being held in Newberry, South Carolina and is set for a 10:15 a.m. start.
