KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— Montreat College's women's cross country squad competed in the NAIA Appalachian Challenge, hosted by Tennessee Wesleyan University, Friday morning. The cooler temperatures still provided some great racing as a total of 188 runners completed the event, and five Cavaliers broke their personal bests in the race.
The Cavs finished with 173 team points, good enough for a fifth-place finish among 18 programs. Montreat was beaten by the University of Rio Grande with 131 points. The Cavaliers triumphed over the University of St. Francis (Ind.) by five points, concluding with 178 team points.
Finishing in second place,
Heather Murphy spearheaded the Montreat runners with a time of 17:19.60. Behind her,
Macy Parks surpassed her personal-best time in her 21
st place finish with a mark of 18:31.80.
Carlyn Bobo was just behind in 29
th place. The junior from Lake Placid, Fla. finished with an effort of 18:49.78, just four seconds short of her personal record.
The next group of Cavalier finishers consisted of
Anna Baugh,
Elena Fibraio and
Emily Standifer. Baugh crushed her personal record by nearly 50 seconds. Her final time of 19:51.38 was good enough for 79
th place. Fibraio and Standifer concluded with just two other runners splitting them apart, in 88
th and 91
st, respectively. Fibraio's effort was a 20:12.46, while Standifer beat her personal best by just over 30 seconds with a 20:15.77.
For full results from the NAIA Appalachian Challenge, click
here.
"We have been challenging the women in the last few weeks to put themselves in better positions to have a successful race, and we did that today," said head coach
Rylan Hincher. "Multiple personal bests across the board means we are trending in a great direction for the conference meet."
Up next, the Cavaliers prepare for their postseason, as they will return to the same course for the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Cross Country Championships in two weeks on Friday, Nov. 7.
