KNOXVILLE, Tenn.— The Montreat College women's cross country team returned to Sequoyah Park in Knoxville, Tenn., Friday morning for the annual running of the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Cross Country Championships. Led by a strong group of competitors, the Cavaliers marched toward a runner-up finish out of 14 squads.
 
Overall, the Cavs' five scorers accumulated a total of 65 points, 20 points better than third-place SCAD Atlanta (Ga.). Meanwhile, Milligan (Tenn.) won the conference title with a 20-point performance.
 
Last year's AAC individual champion, Heather Murphy, improved on her time during the 2025 edition of the meet. Shaving more than 28 seconds off her 6k school record mark, Murphy needed just 20:04.82 to cross the finish line this year. The superb showing proved to be the second-fastest time on Friday, placing Murphy as the conference's runner-up out of 110 participants. The Portarlington, Ireland native's effort also resulted in First Team All-AAC honors.
 
Two other Cavs captured all-conference recognition Friday morning. Both Macy Parks and Carlyn Bobo garnered Second Team All-AAC nods for placing inside the meet's top 14. The former delivered a personal-best time of 21:42.57, good for eighth place. Meanwhile, the latter finished 12^th overall and came within two seconds of a career-best showing at 21:59.32.
 
Elena Fibraio and Ragan Speer closed out Montreat's scoring account at the AAC Championships, finishing as the fourth- and fifth-quickest Cavaliers. Both runners trimmed more than two minutes off their previous career-best 6k races. For Fibraio, her 23:27.33 time meant a 32^nd-place finish on Friday, while Speer's 23:49.81 performance resulted in 37^th place out of 110 runners.
 
Five additional Cavs ran the conference meet's 6k distance. Anna Baugh (39^th; 24:01.57) and Emily Standifer (47^th; 24:31.07) landed inside the top 50, with Baugh notching a personal-best time along the way. Natalia Nieto (51^st; 24:47.07) concluded just outside the top 50, while Eliza Nelson (64^th; 26:46.57) and Naomi Smith (80^th; 28:47.07) completed their first collegiate 6k by crossing the finish line.
 
"Today was really great across the board for our women," said head coach Rylan Hincher. "We've been talking a lot about executing the race plan together. Heather was great up front, as she always is. Our second group of Macy and Carlyn—that was so awesome to see them together. And then our next four through seven being as close as they were was a really big win for our program today."
 
For a look at results from the 2025 AAC Cross Country Championships, click here.
 
As the conference runner-up, the Montreat College women's cross country team secured an automatic berth to the 2025 NAIA Cross Country Championships. The meet, which is slated for Friday, Nov. 21 at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., marks the Cavaliers' sixth consecutive team appearance at nationals.