CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Behind career-best efforts from sophomores Haylee Love and Alex Dixon, the Anderson women's cross country team opened the season by finishing third 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 claimed the top spot, while the host Royals, who were ranked fourth in the NCAA D-II Southeast Region earlier in the week, claimed the second spot just ahead of the Trojans. Limestone and Belmont Abbey finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with UVA-Wise and Wake Tech rounding out the field.
Love eclipsed her previous personal-best by nearly a minute by posting a ninth-place finish in a time of 18:18.6, with Alex Dixon crossing the line in a time of 18:28.2 and placing 11th. Junior Olivia Gardner (18:46.0) finished 14th, while freshman Martha Coleman captured 16th in a time of 18:59.4 in her first collegiate outing.
Fellow newcomers Maddie Buddenberg (19:33.0) and Abigail Bozarth
(19:34.1) finished 21st and 22nd, respectively. Junior Grace
Gerlock crossed the line in 26th place in a time of 19:57.1, with
junior Mia Swiersz (20:17.6) claiming 28th.
Junior Amber Worthy was 31st in a time of 20:42.5, while sophomore
Allison Halperin (20:53.9) finished in 33rd place. Freshman Marion
Reeves crossed the finish line in 36th place in a time of
21:55.0
Following an eight-day layoff, the Trojans will compete at the Furman Cross Country Classic in Greenville, S.C.
