New Personal Records Set and One NAIA Qualifier at AAC XC Championships

New Personal Records Set and One NAIA Qualifier at AAC XC Championships
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November 4, 2023

Knoxville, TN - The AAC held its 2023 Cross Country Championships on Friday morning with the women running a 6K at 9:30 am and the men running the 8K at 10:15 am.

The Eagles had some success at the meet with several runners hitting their personal best times and one runner that qualified for the NAIA Nationals. Salvador Castillo will repeat as Reinhardt's representative at the NAIA Nationals after running a 25:32 which placed in 22nd position overall.

The Men's Team finished in 6th place in the AAC standings out of 12 competing teams. Braden Ray finished not too far behind Castillo in 32nd place overall and hit his personal best time at 26:08.  Crossing the finish line just milliseconds behind Ray was freshman Braniff Mahoney who hit his personal record in the 8k and best time ever for any true freshman in Reinhardt history. Mahoney has had an excellent season and he will push for the top-runner spot once Castillo graduates this year.

Arat Joanico and Will Ort finished out Reinhardt's top five runners for the championships finishing in 59th and 60th respectively. Joanico ran a 27:51 and Ort ran a 27:52.

Also getting their personal record on the men's side was Noah Jones at 28:02, Christopher Smith at 28:34, and Liam Random at 29:57.  Jorge Mores and Taylor Kendrick also ran for the Eagles with Mores placing 68th overall with a 28:22 and Kendrick was 90th with a 30:38 time.

The Women's Team finished in 10th position with Brooke Simon leading the way. The women have been running a 5K the entire season, but they had to step it up some to run the 6K in the championships.  Simon hit a personal record in the 6K running 24:36 finishing in 29th position overall.  Following closely to Simon was freshman, Sara James, who ran 26:06 and placed in 53rd position.  This was a personal record for James in the 6K.

MaLeah Heath had an impressive run setting her personal record at 33:13 as she prepares for her indoor track season as a sprinter for the Eagles. Rounding out the Women's squad were Megan Johnson and Abigail Cruz.

The season will end for most of these runners and many will continue on as distance runners for the indoor and outdoor track season.  Castillo will move on to compete at the NAIA Nationals on Friday, Nov 17th.  More info to come regarding Castillo and his preparation for the NAIA NAtionals event.