CHARLOTTE, N.C.— The Montreat College women's cross country team traveled down the road to Queens University of Charlotte Friday evening for the Queen City Invite. Competing at an NCAA Division I meet for the second time this season, Heather Murphy managed to break her own 5k school record as the Cavaliers skillfully ran their way to a ninth-place finish out of 20 squads.
 
As a team, the Cavs' five scorers combined to notch 252 points. Montreat beat three NCAA Division I programs and proved to be the third-best finisher among NAIA squads present at the meet.
 
Only five DI student-athletes—three from Wake Forest University and two from UNC Charlotte—bested Murphy on Friday. The Portarlington, Ireland native registered a time of 17:15.79, nearly three seconds better than her previous 5k record, which she set last year with the Cavaliers. Overall, Murphy concluded sixth out of 228 runners.
 
Macy Parks and Carlyn Bobo also snagged top-100 performances in Charlotte, N.C. The former utilized a personal-best 5k time of 18:36.28 to place 51^st, while the latter ended in 61^st thanks to her 18:48.04 showing.
 
Six other Cavs ran Friday evening, with all six placing between 117^th and 198^th. Both Elena Fibraio (117^th; 19:54.59) and Emily Standifer (150^th; 20:45.89) achieved career-best marks. Meanwhile, Natalia Nieto (164^th; 21:11.83), Anna Baugh (173^rd; 21:40.20) and Ragan Speer (182^nd; 22:00.62) finished within a minute of each other. Eliza Nelson (198^th; 22:58.78) made her Montreat debut at the meet.

"Really good day for our women's crew today," said head coach Rylan Hincher. "Adding Macy Parks back to the mix was huge for us. Heather Murphy continues to do Heather Murphy things and elevate our program. Several personal bests across the team should be a big confidence boost for us, especially with where we are at in training."
 
For a look at results from the Queen City Invite, click here.
 
Montreat runs next on Saturday, Oct. 4, at the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville, Ky.