RESULTS

Charlotte, NC - The men's and women's cross country teams traveled to Charlotte on Friday to take part in the Royals XC Challenge, hosted by Queens University at McAlpine Park. Around 80 colleges and universities took part in a meet that was split into two sections. The Cavaliers took part in a special NAIA section that was developed for teams to serve as a "pre-nationals" event, as the McAlpine Park course will serve as host of the 2015 NAIA Cross Country National Championships next month.

The men took to the race against a talented field of some of the best NAIA teams in the country and finished 18th overall. The first four Cavaliers came in closely packed, with Rylan Hincher (FR/North Wilkesboro, NC) leading the way with a time of 27:55. Teammate Steven Anhold (SO/Churchville, VA) was right behind Hincher in 27:56. Erik Rodriguez (SR/Euless, Texas) came through in 27:58 and Daniel Lancaster (SO/Wilmington, NC) in 28:00 as the top-four finished within four seconds of one another. Daniel Angarita (FR/Miller's Creek, NC) wrapped up the scoring five for the Cavaliers, finishing with a time of 29:04.

With the women's team battling some nagging injuries, head coach Jason Lewkowicz chose to rest some of the runners for the weekend. Montreat competed with four runners and Samantha Gaskill (SR/Wilmington, NC) led the way with a time of 21:29. Alona Kosenko (SO/Charlotte, NC) was the second Cavalier to cross, finishing with a time of 22:27. Madeline Carter (FR/Elkin, NC) finished the race in 23:29 and Sarah Smith (FR/Orlando, FL) came through the 5k course in 24:09.

"Today was a good learning experience for us," said Lewkowicz. The races didn't go like we wanted them to and I think we got a little caught up in the "big meet" atmosphere. Being such a young team, we've got to learn how to respond and run our race in all environments. We got humbled a bit today but the team is already using it as motivation as we move into the last part of our season."

The Cavaliers return to action on Saturday, October 24 as they take part in the Sandshark Invitational, hosted by USC-Beaufort.