Louisville, KY: The women and men’s cross-country teams, 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 third consecutive year an ALC team had competed in this race. There were actually six separate college meets, three each for the men and women, broken down by division, level, and time.
In the ‘College Silver” division, which was comprised of runners from various levels of NCAA, NAIA, and NCCAA squads, a total of 104 women’s runners and 83 men’s runners comprised the field for the 5K (3.1 miles) women’s race and 8K (5 miles) men’s race. Due to coronavirus, this number, while still impressive, was much smaller than normal as the event typically attracts over 500 runners per race. Alice Lloyd College women’s competitors faced runners from 13 different colleges and the men’s competitors faced 11 different squads.
The course was largely flat terrain with only a small slope in places and was made for good runners. Louisville frequently hosts the NCAA DI National Cross-Country Championship, so obviously, the Eagle runners were motivated to see how they stacked up against some of the finest runners from across the country, from all different levels, on a great course.
On the day, the ladies were led once more by sophomore Carlee Salyers, who finished the meet in 20:51, which earned her 15th place. Salyers is getting stronger each event as she is returning from an injury that kept out of running most of this year.
Soon after, freshman Jordan Riley (21:40) and senior Rachel McCoy (22:29) crossed the finish line, and they completed the course in 35th and 53rd positions. Completing the team’s top five were sophomore Cara Acey (22:55) and junior Brooke Vanover (22:58).
Senior Morgan Arthur (23:15), freshman Sara Cecil (23:23), junior Hannah Bryant (23:34), freshman Peyton Rader (23:50), and sophomore Lauren Bryant (25:36) ran a spirited race as well. The club would finish in 9th.
In the men’s event, Alex Lewis ran very well and set a new school record, as he crossed the line in 27:38. This impressive run earned him 11th place overall. Freshman Anthony Hidalgo looked very promising as he blazed the trail in 28:04 the fastest time ever for a freshman runner. This was also good enough for 17th position. Senior Ryan Morris completed the race in 29:02 and earned himself 29th place. Morris’s time was exceptional considering he is returning from knee surgery and was just cleared to run two days prior to the meet.
The great times did not end there. Freshman Owen Lindsey (29:25), and senior Noah Stevenson (29:42) both set individual records, while a trio of freshman {Joshua Lee (30:18), Micah Blankenship (30:19) and Chris Strickland (30: 48)}, flirted with the thirty-minute mark as well.
Junior Jacob Bush (32:25), junior Austin Lee (33:49), freshman Shawn Cooper (34:05), and junior Jacob Vanhook (34:21) performed well also. The club would finish 5th.
Men’s history was made as this is the first time that more than two runners have broken the 30:00 barrier in a season. With five individuals now accomplishing this goal, and several others on the verge of surpassing it, things bode very well for the future if the squad stays healthy.
The team will next compete in the Chick-fil-A Invitational at Wilmore (KY) on Saturday, October 24th.
Links to results:
Men’s Meet results: https://www.flashresults.com/2021_Meets/xc/LouisvilleClassic/005-1.pdf
Women’s results: https://www.flashresults.com/2021_Meets/xc/LouisvilleClassic/006-1.pdf