Mars Hill places first in season opener at Bruins XC Night Classic
The Mars Hill women's cross country team kicked off the season with a strong 1st place showing - placing six runners in the Top 10 of the Bruins XC night Classic at Bob Jones University.
GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Mars Hill women's cross country team finished first in their season opening meet, the Bruins XC Night Classic, Friday night, hosted by Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. The Lions were anchored by a strong group of four freshman and two upperclass women placing in the top ten of the race overall. The women's team finished in first place by nearly 50 points.
In a very controlled and paced effort, freshman Sophie Ratcliff finished in third place while helping pace her fellow Lions to the overall team win. The pack of Lions came in close on her heels in fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and ninth place. Fellow freshman Natalee Powers finished in a time of 16:09, Grace Adams placed fifth with a time of 16:15.1, and freshman Mary Malcolm finished in sixth with a time of 16:18. Hannah Frazer and freshman Lola Korth rounded out the Lions placements in the Top 10 of the race in seventh and ninth place.
Thoughts from Coach Benge:
"We have an incredible group of incoming freshman women with a very large potential for growth and and it was exciting to see them race together for the first time this evening mixed in with key returning runners. With excellent pacing from Sophie, the women's pack slowly moved up throughout the whole race to finish in the top ten. Executing this team running throughout the season in workouts and races will allow the ladies to have strong and supportive teammates around them throughout the race and will set the stage for an excellent season! With freshmen filling four of the top six team positions, the future of the team is very strong. There are big things happening on the Hill!"
Mars Hill next runs at the Fire Tower Project on Friday, September 13th at Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina. The race is set for a 6 p.m. start.
