Lee Cross Country Places 1st And 2nd In Royals XC Challenge

  • Saturday, September 30, 2017

On a record-breaking Friday evening at McAlpin Creek Park, the Lady Flames cross country team placed first and the Flames were second in their respective races at the Royals XC Challenge hosted by Queens University of Charlotte.

 

Both squads set the Lee program records for total team time, while Emily Buwalda and Christian Noble broke the individual records for the women’s 5K and men’s 8K distances.

 

The 15th-ranked Lady Flames accumulated 52 points to finish ahead of 14th-ranked Queens (61 points) and No.

25 Saint Leo University (96). Alabama Huntsville was fourth with 127 points.

 

“Today the women came away with the win and beat No. 14 Queens on their home course,” said Lee head coach Caleb Morgan. “It’s almost like the women’s team has no limits. Every race I brace myself for them to have just an above average race, but these women are all overachievers. They have set themselves up to have a wonderful postseason.”

 

The Lady Flames eclipsed the previous top team performance of 1:33:31.1 from last year’s Royal XC Challenge by over three seconds. Lee recorded a total time of 1:30.22.

 

Emily Buwalda also bested Audrey Smith’s 5K record time of 17:48.4 that was set on the same course. Buwalda’s record-breaking time of 17:43 put her in fourth place.

 

Smith finished 11th (17:58) with Amy Carpenter and Becca Umbarger right behind. Carpenter was 12th (18:01) and Umbarger was 13th (18:14). Charlee Boxall was Lee’s final scorer. She stopped the clock at 18:26 to finish 21st.

 

Logan Hernandez and Blakely Moore were Lee’s spacers. Hernandez (18:41) was 31st and Moore’s time of 18:47 put her in 34th. Madison Hodges was 85th (19:54) and Lily Fell was 101st (20:15). 

 

The 17th-ranked Flames placed five runners in the top 20 on their way to 59 points. Queens, ranked No. 9, scored 37 points to claim the team win. Alabama Huntsville was third (104) and Saint Leo was fourth (117).

 

“The men had an amazing race today,” said Morgan. “Everything considered, this is the best a team has raced, statistically speaking, in Lee University school history. The men proved that they are a top 10 team nationally. I’m very proud of them and we’re looking forward to the preparing for the postseason.

 

The Flames set a program record for the 8K distance with a total time of 2:03.49. The previous top mark was set on the same course at last year’s event.

 

Christian Noble finished second and broke Seth Eagleson’s Lee record with a time of 23:50. Eagleson recorded a mark of 24:25.7 in the 2016 Royals XC Challenge.

 

Eagleson was the second Flame to cross the finish line. He placed eighth with a time of 24:30.

 

Harold Smith was 14th (25:01) and Caleb Eagleson was 15th (25:03). Rounding out the Lee scorers was Ben Gilman. Gilman crossed the finish line at 25:25 (20th).

 

Jared Herzog and Thomas Kelton served as Lee’s spacers. Herzog was 27th (25:40) with right Kelton right behind in 28th (25:42). Moises Ponce finished 33rd (25:48), while Alex Carter stopped the clock at 26:29 (57th).

 

The Lady Flames and Flames will now enter the championship portion of their schedules with the Gulf South Conference Championship on Oct. 21. The races will be held at Oakville Indian Mounds Course in Danville, Al.

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