Mars Hill begins 2025 campaign with strong 2nd place showing at Bruins XC Night Classic
The Mars Hill men's cross country team placed 2nd out of 14 teams at their opening race, the Bruins XC Night Classic.
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Mars Hill men's cross country team placed 2nd out of 14 teams at their opening race, the Bruins XC Night Classic, Friday night in Greenville, South Carolina. The meet was hosted by Bob Jones University and the men raced over the 6k race distance. The Lions were led by a strong trio up front of DJ Chadwell, Matthew O'Connor, and Justin Owens who ran nearly the entire race side-by-side. Of note to the team scoring, the Lions were missing three of their projected top eight runners.
Leading the team finishers in his Lion debut was freshman DJ Chadwell in 5th place overall with a time of 19:48. Close on his heels was Matthew O'Connor in 9th place with a time of 19:56 and Justin Owens in 12th place with a time of 20:03. Rounding out the top five scoring positions were Eli Taylor with a time of 20:31 and Braxton Cummings with a time of 21:01.
Thoughts from Coach Benge:
"This year the men's team has a very large group of returning men and on top of that, we are returning all of our top five from last year. Additionally, with key freshman and graduate school additions, the men are returning as an even stronger team in 2025. Unfortunately due to sickness, we were missing three of our projected top eight runners and multiple other team members and we look forward to them joining us on our next race. This evening, our top three men executed excellent pack running for almost 5.5k of the 6k race distance and when we add back our other guys to that group it will be truly formidable! Freshman DJ Chadwell showed an extraordinary kick on the last 400m that was impressive to see in person. The guys team is excited to return to full strength next week and work hard this season to continue our forward momentum in the conference and regional rankings this season! Be on the lookout for the Mars Hill men throughout the season!"
To view the full list of results, please click here.
Mars Hill next runs at the Queen City Invite on Friday, September 12th at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. The race is set for a 6 p.m. start.
