CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Catawba College cross country team ran at the Royals Challenge hosted by Queens University at McAlpine Creek Cross Country Course on Friday evening. Catawba's women's team finished 7th out of 27 teams while the men's team finished 8th out of 28 teams.
Freshman Madison Clay continued to turn in strong performances with another top-10 finish on Friday. Clay finished 6th out of 270 runners and broke the 5K record she set last weekend at Louisville. The Morganton native ran a 17:38.2 smashing her previous record of 17:50. Clay ran at a 5:40 mile pace in Friday's top women's race and was the top Division II finisher in the women's 5k Gold Race.
Natalie Almond was the next Catawba runner to cross the finish line. Almond took 26th with a final time of 18:26.
Silan Ayyildiz, who ran unattached, ran the fastest time of the day with a 16:49.1, Milligan University won the Royals Challenge.
On the men's side, EJ Threatt was Catawba's top finisher by taking 29th out of over 250 competitors. Threatt finished the 8K event in 25:14.2, which was nearly 20 seconds faster than the time he posted last weekend in Louisville. Erick Ramirez was Catawba's next finisher as he crossed the finish line in 25:39.1.
Concord's Isaac Prather ran the fastest time in the men's 8K Gold Race with a 24:22.6 and Augusta took the top spot as a team.
Catawba's men's cross country team will run next week at Wingate, and the women's team will run at the Wildcat Challenge on October 21st.
