Concord Set for MEC Championship

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's and women's cross country teams gear up for the Mountain East Conference Championship Saturday morning at the Crispin Golf Course at Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia.

SCHEDULE
9:30 a.m. – Women's 6,000-meter race

10:30 a.m. – Men's 8,000-meter race

LIVE COVERAGE
WV Milesplit will handle live results for the meet while the MEC and Video Productions will have live streaming video of both races.

Live Results
Live Video

COMPETING TEAMS
Charleston
Concord
Davis & Elkins
Fairmont State
Frostburg State
Glenville State
Point Park
West Liberty
West Virginia State
West Virginia Wesleyan
Wheeling

LAST TIME OUT
CU wrapped up the regular season at the Concord Alumni Invite October 10 as both the men's and women's teams won the team portion.

Individually for the Mountain Lion women, freshman Violet Wall was victorious as she clocked the fastest time for any CU women's runner in program history on the 5,000-meter course at Pipestem State Park, coming through in 19:12. Senior Katy Walkup followed close behind as the runner-up in 19:23. Freshman Avery Lilly went under 20 minutes with a personal-best time of 19:56 in third place. Junior Charlotte McGinnis came through in 20:56 for fourth. And fellow junior Sara Turner ran 21:04 to place fifth. The final two in Concord's top seven were juniors Piper Doughton (sixth/21:18) and Abbey Londeree (seventh/21:53).

Junior Braden Ward captured the individual win in the men's race as he stopped the timer at 26:08 for the 8,000-meter course. Sophomore Brandon Canaday placed second in a time of 26:35. Junior AJ Skeens was next through for Concord as he finished fourth in 26:47. In fifth was sophomore Reese Hickey (27:00) while junior Bramley Childress finished sixth with a showing of 27:17. Freshman Johnny Walkup (eighth/27:24) and junior Andrew Tickle (ninth/27:33) also sported top-10 placings.  

MEC CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES
After a four-year streak of placing in the top three of the MEC Championship, the Concord women look to rebound after a seventh-place finish last season. K. Walkup has had great success in the MEC Championship with two All-MEC Second Team performances—placing inside the top 20. Wall and Lilly will be in the mix for MEC Freshman of the Year. McGinnis looks to improve upon a 47^th-place finish last season. Doughton, Sophomore Kate Kelly, Londeree and Turner all have experience at the MEC Championship.

Davis & Elkins won the team title last season with Charleston as the runner-up after the Golden Eagles won the previous four team championship. The defending individual champion is Lauren Twyman from Davis & Elkins. Point Park's Cassandra O'Connor was last year's MEC Runner of the Year.

Ward spearheads the returning men's athletes for the Mountain Lions after back-to-back seasons on the All-MEC Second Team. Since a 34^th-place showing at last year's MEC Championship, Skeens has been surging with a stellar track season, and following it up with a solid cross country season to this point. Childress was 43^rd at the 2024 MEC Championship while Tickle and Canaday look to improve last year's performance. As a team, the Concord men have been third or better at the MEC Championship for ten consecutive years.

Davis & Elkins is the defending team championship, but lost several contributors from last seasom, returning just one All-MEC performer from last year. Charleston has reloaded after a runner-up finish in 2024, breaking a six-year streak as the team champion.