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The Alice Lloyd Eagle’s cross country teams traveled to the University of Rio Grande to compete in the KIAC Cross Country Championships on November 7th, 2015.

Both Britney Buttrey and Shiloh Jekel on the women’s team set personal records on the 5k course at Rio. Buttery was the first Eagle to cross the finish line with a 21:58 placing 28th over-all. Shiloh Jekel was the 47th runner to cross the line with a time of 23:37. Both Jekel and Buttrey will be competing at the NCCAA National Cross Country Championship race on November the 14th in Houghton, New York.

Jacob Medley was the first Eagle on the men’s side to cross the finish line. Medley placed 47th over-all with a finishing of 31:13. Andrew Stidham was the next male finisher from Alice Lloyd, and his race was easily the most exciting finish of the season. Jacob Medley and John Driskill have already qualified for the NCCAA National Cross Country Championships, but they needed one more runner to  meet the qualifying time of 34:00 for the entire team to go. Stidham ran a tough race and his final kick allowed him to cross the tape in 33:59.3 placing 67th. Because of Andrew’s gutsy race, the entire Eagles men’s squad will be traveling to Houghton, New York as the first Alice Lloyd Cross Country team to make it to a national meet.  After the meet, an obviously thrilled Stidham had this to say about his accomplishment. “This past 2 weeks has been rough on me. I’ve been dealing with a knee injury that kept me from running very hard, but God was with me and He carried me through the race. Beating the national qualifying time by 1 second felt amazing. I’m pumped to be going to New York with the team. Hopefully we’ll represent Alice Lloyd well up there!”

Finishing right behind Stidham in 68th place was John Driskill. He had a finishing time of 34:09. Zach Templeton and Caleb Mills were the next Eagles to cross the line placing 76th, and 79th. Templeton ran a person record of 37 minutes and 18 seconds; Mills finished with a 38:35.

Eagles Coach Brandon Arnold had this to say about Saturday’s race and his squad advancing to the national tournament. “I’m ecstatic about what the team has accomplished this season. They’re a great group to work with. Two weeks ago Shiloh, Britney, Jake, and John all qualified for nationals; and then Andrew qualified today making it possible for the guy’s to all compete as a team at the national meet. We’re definitely moving the program in the right direction. They’ve made my first season as a coach great, and I’m looking forward to racing in New York.”

The Eagles will compete in Houghton New York on November 14th. Race time is scheduled for 10am for the women’s 5K followed by the men’s 8K at 11am.