SALISBURY, N.C. - The Queens University of Charlotte men and women's cross country programs had a great Division I debut in the Fleet Feet Invitational at Catawba College on Saturday morning. The men and women both put together top three finishes while four Royals placed in the top 10 individually.
"This was a good rust buster for everyone," stated Head Coach Jake Krolick. "I think there was some excitement coming into the first meet of the season. We got out a little hard and some paid for it a little on the back end of the race, but during that struggle we kept it together well and didn't give up. "
On the men's side, Mitch Cox led the Royals with a second place finish and newcomer Tom Heal took eighth. As a group, the men's team finished third in scoring with a total score of 59 and a total time 2:14:21. The reigning South Atlantic Conference champions from Wingate would take first while Catawba placed second.
The men will look to regroup and improve together moving forward. "It's a young group and I believe we can have at least two of those boys really step up by the time we get to October." said Krolick.
As for the women, Katharina Krosta finished fifth and Sarah Watts finished eighth in the individuals. As a group, the Royals women also finished third in team scoring with a score of 79 and time of 1:41:32. The host from Catawba would take the top spot with Wingate right behind in second.
Coach Krolick explained that the goal for the women is to bring the 3-4 up to the top two Royals in the next month. Queens expects to add some strong front runners in the weeks to come to increase their roster depth. Joining the Royals again will be distance runners Mathurin Boutte and Franca Henseleit.
"It's time to focus on training for the next few weeks and take care of our bodies. We can accomplish a lot with our fitness over the next six weeks if we work hard and do the necessary things outside of practice with this group. We will continue to get stronger week by week," said Krolick.
The Royals will return to the course when they travel to Florence, Alabama for the University of North Alabama Showcase on September 16th. The trip will be the Royals first to Alabama as the ASUN Championships will be held there at the end of the season.
