Emory & Henry Cross Country Races At Royals Cross Country Challenge Friday

McKenna Tankersley leads a pack of runners.
-photo courtesy of Joe Matthews

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Emory & Henry College Men's & Women's Cross Country Teams closed out the regular season on Friday afternoon with strong performances at the Royals Cross Country Challenge, hosted by Queens University of Charlotte. The Wasps put up multiple personal-best times as they raced against a field comprised of mostly NCAA Division I and Division II programs.

The Basics
MEN'S RESULT
–  37th/43
WOMEN'S RESULT – 40th/45
LOCATION –  Charlotte, North Carolina
VENUE – McAlpine Creek Park

The Men – 8K (5.0 miles)
- Senior Zane Moran (Floyd, Va.) went a 27:32, beating his season-best time by more than two minutes while freshman Tony McGuire (Chesapeake, Va.) put up a personal record of 27:41.
- Senior Austin Tolbert (Wytheville, Va.) ran a 29:23 while freshman Lucas Biggerstaff (Knoxville, Tenn.) clocked a 30:10.
- Junior Colt Pierce (Lockhart, Texas) rounded out the top five for E&H in 38:04.
- Christian Noble of Lee University won the event with a time of 23:27, finishing 20 seconds ahead of second place.
- Queens brought home the team title with all five of its scoring runners in the top 30.

The Women – 5K (3.1 miles)
- Led by sophomore Alette McGuire's (Chesapeake, Va.) time of 21:00, all seven of E&H's women put up season-best times.
- Junior Erica Grupp (Charlottesville, Va.) and senior Lauren Fleming (Troutville, Va.) both went 22:05 while senior McKenna Tankersley (Big Stone Gap, Va.) went a personal-best of 22:38.
- Junior Maddie Copenhaver (Glade Spring, Va.) ran a 25:29 to make the top five while freshman Lia Haskins (Danville, Va.) and senior Annie Kate Leinius (Oak Ridge, Tenn.)  finished in 26:48 and 30:26, respectively.
- Wofford College's Hannah Steelman was crowned in the individual champion in 16:27, winning by 17 seconds.
- Davidson College earned first place as a team with five runners in the top 50.

Up Next
- Emory & Henry will enter the postseason on Saturday, October 27 when it competes in the 2018 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championships.
- The meet will be held at the Kernstown Battlefield, hosted by Shenandoah University.

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