Concord Hosts Alumni Meet at Pipestem State Park Friday

Live Stats

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's and women's cross country teams host the annual Concord Alumni Invite Friday at Pipestem State Park.

SCHEDULE
4:00 p.m. – Women's 5,000-meter race
5:00 p.m. – Men's 8,000-meter race

COMPETING TEAMS
Concord
Bluefield State

LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lions were scheduled to run two weeks ago at Lehigh's Paul Short Run before excessive heat forced the cancellation of the meet. Before that, Concord competed at the Rams Atlantic Regional Preview September 25.

The Concord women finished eighth at the Rams Atlantic Region Preview last Friday. Sophomore Violet Wall secured her third straight top-15 finish of the season with an 11^th-place showing as she ran 23:41 for the 6,000-meter course. Sophomore Avery Lilly placed 46^th with a time of 25:48. Freshman Maddie Lilly clocked under 26 minutes with a time of 25:59, finishing 49^th. Senior Abbey Londeree ran 26:26 while junior Larah Blevins finished up in 26:44. The top seven was capped by sophomore Emma Willie (27:02) and senior Piper Doughton (27:54).

The CU men continued their strong performances as they finished third after a second-place showing at the Southern Showcase the weekend prior. Senior Braden Ward (25:49) and junior Brandon Canaday (26:08) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Junior Reese Hickey finished eighth in a time of 26:16 for the 8,000-meter course to give CU a trio of runners in the top 10. Sophomore Johnny Walkup came through in 26:48 to place 14^th. Senior Bramley Childress finished 23^rd in 27:11. The top seven was rounded out by senior Andrew Tickle (33^rd/27:29) and freshman Landon Kennedy (43^rd/28:32).

CONCORD ALUMNI PREVIEW
Friday's meet will be a dual with Bluefield State as the Mountain Lion men go for their seventh straight win at the Concord Alumni Invite. Last year, senior Braden Ward was firth while junior Brandon Canaday finished as the runner-up. Senior AJ Skeens (fourth) and junior Reese Hickey (fifth) secured spots in the top five. Senior Bramley Childress (sixth), sophomore Johnny Walkup (eighth) and senior Andrew Tickle (ninth) were also in the top 10. As a sophomore, Ward was third overall at the Concord Alumni Invite in 2024. Additionally, Ward's times from 2024 (25:56) and 2025 (26:08) are top five in program history on the Pipestem course.

The Concord women have a similar streak winning the Concord Alumni Invite as CU has won five consecutive years heading into Friday's competition. Sophomore Violet Wall is looking to defender her individual win from last year. Sophomore Avery Lily was third while senior Charlotte McGinnis came through in fourth. Seniors Piper Doughton (sixth) and Abbey Londeree (seventh) were both in the top 10 for CU. McGinnis has been in the top five each of the last two years while Londeree has sported back-to-back top-10 showings. Last year, Wall ran the program course record with a showing of 19:12, eclipsing the previous mark by 17 seconds.