Mars Hill men place 4th among DII teams at Queen City Invite
The Mars Hill men's cross country team finished a strong 4th place of NCAA Division II teams in competition and placed 13th of 21 teams overall at the Queen City Invite, hosted at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday evening over the 8k race distance.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's cross country team finished a strong 4th place of NCAA Division II teams in competition and placed 13th of 21 teams overall at the Queen City Invite, hosted at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, North Carolina on Friday evening over the 8k race distance. The men had an opportunity to race an array of Division 1 competition such as UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Charlotte, and Queens University among others. The Lions were led up front by strong runs from Sean Sanchez and Justin Owens who finished side-by-side to own the 25th and 26th fastest times in the history of Mars Hill University Cross Country over the 8k race distance with times of 26:02 and 26:04.
With another extremely strong pack showing, the Lions finished with a strong top seven who ran together for most of the race. After Sean and Justin was Matthew O'Connor in a time of 26:51 for his first time dipping under 27 minutes. Following closely behind was Brandon McNulty in a time of 27:07, Eli Taylor in a time of 27:13, Braxton Cummings in a time of 27:27, and DJ Chadwell in a time of 27:33.
Thoughts from Coach Benge:
"For our first 8k race of the season with many of the guys coming off sickness last week, this was a strong opening 8k race. The guys finished last season with a team average time of 26:36 over the 8k, so to start this season with an average team time of 26:40 puts us at a great place to build over the next two months. As the guys continue to get more comfortable running workouts and races as a pack, they will continue to see great results!"
To view the full list of times, please click here.
The Mars Hill men's cross country team next competes at Pre-Conference on Saturday, September 27th. That race is being held in Tusculum, Tennessee and is set for a 9 a.m. start.
