Lions place 11th at SAC Championships

NEWTON, N.C. - The Mars Hill women's cross country team continued their 2023 campaign at the South Atlantic Conference Championship at Southside Park in Newton, North Carolina with their first 6k race of the year. The women's team was able to move up one spot to 11th place as a team after entering the season ranked 12th. 

The Mars Hill women were led by sophomore Lindsey Jenkins in 50th place with a time of 23:31.15 for the 6k distance - breaking her 6k personal record from the previous season by over two minutes. Following close behind was Hannah Frazer in her first 6k race with a time of 24:04.42. In her last cross country conference championship, senior Megan Van Etten also ran a multiple minute personal record to finish in a time of 25:45.79. Adding to the list of personal records was sophomore Emma Bridges in a time of 26:12.21. Rounding out scoring for the Lions was freshman Brenna Hicks in her first 6k race with a time of 27:13.76.   

Thoughts from Coach Benge:

"Without one of our top five scoring runners today, each of the ladies had to step up big time. Despite missing a key teammate, the ladies came together for solid individual and team performances to improve one place in their pre-season conference ranking. I expect to see this momentum continue into future cross country and track and field seasons. Even more impressive was the fact that every lady set massive personal records in their first 6k race of this cross country season. This shows that everyone is in peak shape and focused at the perfect time for our championship races! Special congratulations for Lindsey and Hannah for entering our Top 25 All-Time record list for the women's 6k race distance."

To view the full list of results, please click here.

The Mars Hill cross country teams race next at the NCAA DII Southeast Regional in Oakwood, Georgia on Saturday, November 4th.