CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Paced by sophomore Mason Hazel's personal-best time, the Anderson University men's cross country team opened the season with a third-place finish at the Royals Twilight, hosted by Queens University of Charlotte Friday night at Freedom Park.
"It was a great team race tonight," said Anderson head coach Kevin Licht. "We accomplished everything we set out to and set a lot of PR's along the way. I was particularly impressed by the toughness our team demonstrated and their ability to run together and pull each other through the race. It's a great place to start our season and we're looking forward to racing at Furman next week."
Furman won the event, while South Atlantic Conference-member Queens, which was ranked third in the NCAA D-II Southeast Region earlier in the week, claimed the second spot in front of the Trojans. Limestone and UVA-Wise finished fourth and fifth, respectively with Belmont Abbey and Wake Tech rounding out the field.
Hazel slashed nearly a minute off his previous career-best time by crossing the finish line in a time of 15:16.6 en route to placing 15th. The four remaining Trojan returnees also posted personal-best efforts on the course, as junior Ben Boerma finished 17th in a time of 15:39.5. Fellow junior Ned Kennedy (15:59.5) placed 27th, with junior Jesse Patrick claiming 30th in a time of 16:06.4.
Junior Michael Burch crossed the line in 42nd in a time of 16:39.7, while redshirt freshman John Drummond (16:57.4) placed 49th. Another newcomer, Mark Bradley rounded out the Trojan effort in 54th, with a time of 17:42.4
The Trojans are slated to get back in action on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Furman Cross Country Classic in Greenville, S.C.
