ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's and women's cross country teams return to action when they travel to the University of Charleston Invite Friday afternoon at Coonskin Park in Charleston, West Virginia.
LAST TIME OUT
CU's women's cross country team finished sixth at High Point in the season opener two weeks ago. Sophomores
Hannah Altizer (28
th) and
Emily Wallace (29
th) both finished inside the top 30 in the Division I-heavy field. Altzier went under the 24-minute mark for 6,000-meters with a showing of 23:58. Sophomore
Gretchen Mills was in the top 40 as she placed 39
th.
On the men's side, junior
Issac Prather was the top finisher for the Mountain Lions, finishing second with a time of 25:30 for 8,000-meters. Prather was voted as the Mountain East Conference Athlete of the Week for his efforts at High Point. Fellow junior
Cedric Drennen was 12
th at High Point in a time of 26:32. Senior
Samuel Haynes posted a time of 27:14 to claim the final spot in the top 20.
CHARLESTON INVITE PREVIEW
The women's race will be 6,000 meters in length while the men's race will be 8,000 meters. Concord competes against Charleston, Fairmont State and West Liberty on Friday. Charleston, Concord and West Liberty made up three of the top four teams in the men's race at last year's MEC Championship. The Mountain Lions have all seven from last year's MEC Championship in the lineup for Friday's meet, including reigning MEC Freshman of the Year and First Team All-MEC selection
Nate Leichner.
West Liberty was the team runner-up on the women's side in last season's MEC Championship, and return Hannah Kemp, who was the MEC Athlete of the Week for the first week of the season in 2021. UC was fourth last season, but Concord was able to beat out Fairmont State as the teams finished sixth and seventh, respectively. The difference in scoring was Concord's fourth and fifth runners, senior
Lindsey Cummings and junior
Kyla Marshall beating out FSU's fourth and fifth scorers.
The races get underway at 3:00 p.m. with the women's 6,000 meters followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 4:00 p.m.
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