WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.— The Montreat men's and women's track & field teams opened their respective seasons at the Rams Winter Challenge in Columbia, S.C. and the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off in Winston-Salem, N.C. Saturday afternoon, competing against top talent and earning national marks.
 
At the Winston-Salem meet, the women's team competed, posting a pair of victories and a national-qualifying mark. Dylan Garcia, freshman standout, won the 3,000m race in which seven Cavaliers ran. Garcia notched a time of 10:24.94 to automatically qualify for nationals with an NAIA "A" standard. In the mile event, Garcia ended with a team-best 5:24.50 to conclude fifth.
 
Joining Garcia in the top 10 of competitors in both events were distance runners Mahaley Cronk and Yessenia Castellanos. Cronk (10:44.54) crossed the finish line fifth in the 3k and sixth in the mile (5:25.03), while Castellanos ended seventh in both (10:55.09 in the 3k and 5:26.24 in the mile).
 
Another first-year collegiate runner, Emily Standifer, claimed victory in the 800m run. Standifer (2:24.82) finished ahead of Addison Teter, who crossed seventh (2:43.60), and Kylie Millner, who ran 2:54.53 for ninth. Raquel Smith rounded out the Cavalier women in the top 10 of events with a seventh-best time in the 1,000m (3:41.00).
 
Both track and field team sent athletes to South Carolina for the Rams Winter Challenge, with Lillie Siniard competing for the women and 10 athletes running for the men. Siniard won the women's 5,000m event with a time of 19:59.24.
 
Additionally, Jacob Inman competed in the 1,000m event. Inman utilized a 2:45.24 to finish fourth. Caleb Wright led nine Cavs in the 5k race, crossing third with a time of 15:46.75. Five other Montreat runners joined Wright in the top 10, finishing from fifth through ninth place. Rene Tamez (15:59.16), Caleb Potter (16:03.10), Nathan Stamey (16:13.03), Aidan Reyna (16:16.12) and Nathan Richards (16:16.80) all raced to those finishes to conclude the single-digit results from the meet.
 
For the full results from the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off, click here.
 
To see the full results from the Rams Winter Challenge, click here.
 
Athletes from the men's track & field team compete tomorrow at the Visit Winston-Salem College Kick-off, while the women's team returns to action in the spring on Jan. 15 for the Mondo College Invitational in Winston-Salem.