Cross Country Season Comes to a Close at AAC Championships

Photos Courtesy of Madison Obarsky

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – (Results) One of the strangest seasons in history came to a close at the AAC Championships in North Carolina on Saturday, and for both the Reinhardt men's and women's cross country teams, the Eagles have to be quite pleased with the final results.

On the men's side, the hometown team crossed the finish line collectively in third place (2:21:16) out of 10, while the women are coming home with a seventh-place result (1:54:43).

"First and foremost, I want to express my appreciation to all our conference teams for doing what not many others in the nation were able to do this year – host and complete a successful fall conference championship for the benefit of all student-athletes," lead Eagle Jordan Turner said. "I honestly had no expectations for our groups today after coming out of a COVID quarantine for both teams less than one week ago; it could have gone one of two ways, and it was up to the individuals who ran the race on how they wanted to end their seasons.

"I was thrilled to see the fight in both groups in battling for positions and securing really good team finishes for what could have easily been a very forgettable season."

Turner said it was refreshing to see a championship race that was all about places and not times. For example, the guys stepped up in a big way and moved up from a fifth-place team a couple miles in to finish in third behind two of the top teams in the NAIA.

"Braden ran a great race to lead us and I'm happy he was able to secure an individual bid to the national meet after coming so close last year. He left no doubt this year and will get a chance to race the NAIA's very best in April in Iowa. Salvador ran to perfection for the first four miles of the race, but I will remember his terrible last mile for a long time. With a tight team battle for third in the balance and a spot at nationals on the line, he scrapped and clawed to the finish line to secure both for his team… Very gutsy in the circumstances and no one more deserving after the work he has put in.

"David, Brody and Parker all had a big part in securing the third-place spot as they really put together great races. This men's group is very young, but they have a chance to be very good the next couple of years; I hope they all see the positives from this very different season."

Additionally, David Crow made the AAC All-Freshmen squad.

The ladies were able to fight through two separate team-wide COVID quarantines in two months' time this season and still had four of the seven girls run season bests today.

"Carly has been running well all season, and I'm happy to see her improve so much in a years' time," Turner said. "Alexis, Jillian, Sara and Sarah were all ready to run today, and they showed a season's worth of work with good finishes. This may not have been our best team finish of all-time, but these ladies really impressed me all season and they should be proud of where they finished. Although she didn't get to run today, Jasmin was primed for a big day here a couple weeks out. I am proud of the hard work she displayed and the improvement she showed all season. 

"A final thanks to our two seniors, Jake and Pam, for the commitment to our program and Reinhardt.  Jake started as our manager and was able to earn a chance to be a college athlete and be a larger part of our team. Pam has battled through a lot during her time here and I'm happy for her to finish what she started here today." 

For up-to-the-minute Eagles sports news, follow Reinhardt Athletics on Facebook, @RU_Eagles on Twitter and @ru_eagles on Instagram. 

For more information on Reinhardt Men's Cross Country, please click here, and Reinhardt Women's Cross Country here.