ALC Cross Country Participates in Highly-Regarded 2022 Royals Challenge
Charlotte, NC: The women's and men's cross-country teams, coached by Brittany Buttrey-Owens, journeyed to Charlotte (NC) to compete in one of the Southeast Region's finest meets, the Royals Challenge. The event was held on Friday, October 7th.
There were two separate college races, broken down by division, level, and time. ALC's group, the "College Blue" division, was comprised of runners from various levels of NCAA, NAIA, and NCCAA squads, with a total of 203 women and 331 men taking the starting line for the 5K (3.1 mile) women's race and 8K (5 mile) men's race.
Not only were the numbers very impressive, but for the second consecutive week, so was the quality of the competition. Alice Lloyd women's competitors faced 37 different colleges, while the men's competitors also faced 37 different squads. The course was largely flat terrain and was definitely made for fast runners.
On the day, the ladies were paced once again by Sara Cecil, who crossed the finish line in a solid time of 21:08, to finish in 39th position. Also performing well for the team were Kaitlynn Ratliff (22:57- 90th), Olivia Inskeep (23:40- 109th), and Abbey Hicks (25:29- 143rd). All gave a determined effort.
In the men's event, Micah Blankenship paced the team in a time of 31:12 (141st). He was followed by Collin Ramey (33:06-164th), Dakota Owens (34:21- 170th), and Gerald Estep (37:20-195th). Each runner gave a gritty performance.
The squad will next compete in the Chick-Fil-A Invitational in Wilmore (KY) on October 22nd.