Louisville, KY: The women’s and men’s cross country team, coached by Brandon Arnold, traveled to Louisville to compete in one of the country’s largest and most prestigious meets, the Greater Louisville Classic. This was the first time an ALC team had competed in this race. There were a total of six separate college meets, each broken down by division. In the small college division, a total of 346 women’s runners and a total of 276 men’s runners comprised the field for the 5K (3.1 miles) women’s race and 8K (5 miles) men’s race. Alice Lloyd women’s competitors faced runners from 42 different colleges and the men’s competitors faced 34 different squads. This race was highly competitive and was one of the largest races in the south this year in terms of number of competing teams. The course was largely flat terrain with only a small slope in places, but it was muddied in several spots due to previous races earlier in the day.
On the day, the Lady Eagles were led once more by their dynamic duo of junior Kacey Trout and senior Brittney Buttrey, who finished only a second apart with times of 21:07 and 21:08 respectively. Shortly after, senior Rachel McCoy crossed the finish line with a time of 22:05. To complete the team’s top five were freshman Brooke Vanover who finished with a time of 23:04 and sophomore Morgan Arthur who finished with a time of 23:09. Additionally, senior Cheyenne Boggs registered a 25:16 while freshman Abigail Webb ran with a time of 26:13. Freshman Hannah Bryant returned from an injury to finish her first race with the team in 27:39.
In the men’s event, the squad ran a great race. Junior Ryan Morris improved his time yet again as he set a new school and personal best record of 28:19 to lead the Eagles. Freshman Alex Lewis wasn’t far behind with a personal record of his own at 28:45. Freshman Jacob Bush finished third on the team with a time of 31:00. Following Bush were junior Noah Stevenson, who finished with a time of 32:13, and senior John Driskill, returning back to form from an injury, with a time of 34:44. The Eagle’s first five all managed to finish the race with season-best times, a great achievement. Also finishing strong were freshman Ty Reagan, who ran despite an injury, and finished with a time of 35:38, freshman Dakota Owens with a time of 35:57, senior Zach Templeton who finished the race with a time of 36:00, and junior Dustin Blair who crossed the tape with a time of 37:14.
The team will next compete in the Asbury Invitational on Saturday, October 20th. The start of the race is scheduled for 11:00 am. Both the men’s and women’s teams look to impress and produce season-best times after a much-needed break in the schedule.