CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's and women's cross-country teams returned to the course on Friday afternoon at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte. Despite the steady rain and muddy track conditions, the Royals Challenge saw 63 institutions compete.
 
The afternoon began with the women's blue 5k event and Cherise Carreira notched a remarkable second place finish for Queens with a time of 7:29.2. The second-place finish is the freshman's best placement so far this season. In the event, Davis & Elkins topped the rankings with a final score of 36 and a total time of 1:37:16.30 while Southern Wesleyan placed second with a time of 1:39.58.20. The men's blue 8k took off next with 188 participants. The event saw Cody Booth from Rio Grande cruise through the course at a time of 24:41.5. In the men's 8k, Davis & Elkins topped the leaderboard again with a total time of 2:09:38.70 and four top ten finishers. Belmont Abbey managed to finish second with 119 points and a time of 2:12:45.30.
 
After a slight opening in the forecast, the rain opened back up for the beginning of the women's gold 5k. Mackenna Curtis-Collins refused to let mother nature get in the way as the junior from Malone crossed the finish line first at 16:59.5. Cedarville would manage to place four in the top ten en route to a first-place finish with a score of 38. In the final event of the evening, 345 men took off in the gold 8k. Coen Roberts would place first with a time of 23:22.7 before Matthew Forrester (Charleston) and Matthew Fowler (Catawba) crossed respectively. Charleston would land atop the final results with 42 total points and a total time of 1:58:58.10.
 
The Royals will now gear up for the South Atlantic Conference Championship which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 23 at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte. Be sure to follow the Royals on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates.