Lady Eagles Impress at North Georgia
September 17, 2016
Reinhardt's women's cross country team had one of its best finishes against a deep field in recent years as the Lady Eagles finished in fifth out of 14 teams at the University of North Georgia Invitational in Oakwood, Ga., Saturday morning.
The average time of RU's top five finishers was the fourth-best in school history at 21:22. The Lady Eagles ran at the same meet in 2014, and that average time was over 2:30 slower. Shelby Rensel's 19th place finish overall in a time of 20:27 was the fastest debut race for an RU women's cross country runner at the 5-kilometer distance. Savanah Rice was the second-best runner for RU in 24th place with a time of 20:55.
Melanie Gerdes (21:35), Jenna Chance (21:47), Ansley Avera (23:09), and Kaylee Rinesmith (24:06) all ran personal-best times at the distance, while Jazzmine Gonzalez (22:02) was RU's fifth place runner in the meet, joining Gerdes and Chance with the other scoring times for the Lady Eagles.
"I gave the ladies three goals coming into the race and they went out and performed to meet all three," said RU head coach Jordan Turner. "These women have worked tremendously hard since the start of the season to improve not only their own times but also motivating those around them to lifetime or season bests. We had huge breakthrough races today and that's only the beginning for this group."
Reinhardt will be back in action next Saturday at the Wingfoot Cross Country Classic in Cartersville, Ga.
The average time of RU's top five finishers was the fourth-best in school history at 21:22. The Lady Eagles ran at the same meet in 2014, and that average time was over 2:30 slower. Shelby Rensel's 19th place finish overall in a time of 20:27 was the fastest debut race for an RU women's cross country runner at the 5-kilometer distance. Savanah Rice was the second-best runner for RU in 24th place with a time of 20:55.
Melanie Gerdes (21:35), Jenna Chance (21:47), Ansley Avera (23:09), and Kaylee Rinesmith (24:06) all ran personal-best times at the distance, while Jazzmine Gonzalez (22:02) was RU's fifth place runner in the meet, joining Gerdes and Chance with the other scoring times for the Lady Eagles.
"I gave the ladies three goals coming into the race and they went out and performed to meet all three," said RU head coach Jordan Turner. "These women have worked tremendously hard since the start of the season to improve not only their own times but also motivating those around them to lifetime or season bests. We had huge breakthrough races today and that's only the beginning for this group."
Reinhardt will be back in action next Saturday at the Wingfoot Cross Country Classic in Cartersville, Ga.