Lady Lions race to new records against 120 teams at the Louisville Cross Country Classic
The Mars Hill women's cross country team raced to new records against 120 collegiate teams across all NCAA and other divisions at the extremely competitive Louisville Cross Country Classic. With their strong finish at this race, the 2024 women now rank at the 4th fastest women's cross country team in Mars Hill history!
LOUISVILLE, K.Y. - The Mars Hill women's cross country team finished 61st of 120 collegiate teams across all NCAA and other divisions at the extremely competitive Louisville Cross Country Classic, hosted at E.P Tom Sawyer State Park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday morning over the 8k race distance. With their strong finish at this race, the 2024 women now rank at the 4th fastest women's cross country team in Mars Hill history!
In their first overnight trip of the season, the Mars Hill women's cross country team faced their strongest competition and largest field of racers with over hundreds of runners. The Lady Lions were led once again by red-shirt freshman Sophie Ratcliff who finished in 59th place with a time of 23:10. Sophomores Natalee Powers, Mary Malcolm, and Lola Korth finished close behind with times of 23:57, 24:14, and 24:31. Grace Adams rounded out the top five scoring positions in a time of 24:57.
Additionally, Lola Korth made her first entry on the Mars Hill Women's Cross Country 6k Leaderboard as the 25th fastest girl in Mars Hill history. Natalee Powers improved on her own ranking from last year advancing to the 17th fastest Mars Hill woman of all time over the 6k distance. The women's team average of 24:10 ranks as the 4th fastest women's team in Mars Hill Cross Country history behind only the 2004, 2014, and only one second behind the 2024 team.
Thoughts from Coach Benge:
"With a massive field of over 45 teams in our race, the women got to experience what collegiate cross country racing is all about! The women fought hard the whole race and finished high in the field - only a few points behind the 7th team in our region and well in front of the 10th team in our region. The women's team average was 24:10 and is the 4th fastest 6k team average in Mars Hill Women's cross country history. This is only one second slower than the end of season team average from last year so that is quite exciting. With only one regular season race remaining, the ladies will look to finish the regular season strong and prepare for our conference and regional championships!"
To view the full list of times please click here.
The Mars Hill women's cross country team next competes in their last regular season race of the season at the Royals XC Challenge on Friday, October 10th. That race is being held in Charlotte, North Carolina and is set for a 5 p.m. start.
