CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's and women's cross country competed in the Royals Challenge, hosted by Queens University of Charlotte Friday afternoon at McAlpine Park.
 
The men's team participated in both the 8-kilometer Blue and the 8-kilometer Gold. The squad finished 10^th out of 27 teams in the Blue Race, while they also finished third out of 28 teams in the Gold race. The Spartan women participated in the 5-kilometer Gold race and finished 11^th overall out of 28 teams.

Men's 8k Gold
The second race of the afternoon for the men found them in the top three. Augusta walked away with the team title totaling 74 points, while Milligan came in second with 94 points, and the Spartans rounded out the top three with an even 100 points.
 
The Spartans had two men finish within the top ten. Graduate student Dylan Christopher clocked in with a time of 24:35.8, earning him a fourth-place finish and beating his career best by over ten seconds. Classmate Joseph Thoma finished ninth in the race with a career-best time of 24:41.0.
 
Freshman Evan Pena was the next Blue & Gold to cross the line, clocking in a time of 25:13.4, which is a season-best that earned him 27^th place.
 
Sophomore Colin Keck followed up, placing 36^th (25:22.8), followed by freshman Luke Ward and sophomore Ethan Long. Ward edged his teammate out by just .1 of a second, earning 47^th and 48^th, respectively and enabling every Spartan to finish within the top 50 participants out of the 257 athletes who finished the race.
 
MEN'S TEAM
Men's 8k Blue
On the men's side, Augusta walked away with the title totaling 78 points. Rio Grande came in second with 150 points, and Mount Olive finished out the top three with a total of 153 points.

Two Spartans finished within the top 15 and took 10^th overall with 232 points.
 
Freshman Zachary Taylor walked away placing 11^th overall with a time of 26:49.2. This is Taylor's best time and placement in a Spartan uniform.
 
The next Spartan to cross the line was sophomore Mason Rudel who placed 15^th with a time of 26:54.1. Less than a minute behind and taking 32^nd place was freshman Lane Prochaska who ran a 27:29.7.
 
Junior Jonathan Kennedy finished inside the top-100 competitors as he placed 95^th overall with a time of 29:18.3. Freshman Charlie Bennett was the final Spartan, taking 126^th overall.

WOMEN'S TEAM
The Spartans finished with 350 points, finishing in 11^th place. The top three teams consisted of Milligan with a total of 75 points, Queens earning second with 84 points, and the College of Charleston with 150 points overall.

Junior Jenna Reiter led the Spartans with a 39^th place finish, running a time of 18:43.6.
 
The next UNCG runner to cross the finish line was freshman Victoria Sosa who clocked in at 19:04.9, earning her 57^th place and earning herself a new personal best time by almost 30-seconds.
 
Freshman Reagan O'Quinn and sophomore Camille Carlson were the Spartans, finishing 92^nd and 101^st place, respectively.
 
Finishing in 125^th place was junior Shay Soukup, and closely behind her was sophomore Laila Burk in 127^th place.
 
The final Spartans to finish the race were all close, with sophomore Bella Manfre finishing at 179^th and classmate Serena Henderson taking 180^th, just .2 behind Manfre. Freshman Kaitlyn Harrison was right there as well, taking 186^th with a time of 20:57.2.

UP NEXT:
The Spartans begin postseason competition on Sunday, October 30, traveling to Charleston, South Carolina, where they will compete in the Southern Conference (SoCon) Championship.