Royals Challenge Brings Out the Best in the Pioneers

Friday night the men’s and women’s cross country teams took to the course against some of the best teams in the southeast. The women raced first and saw Averi Vance and Mariela Velazquez take 97^th and 98^th place, respectively. For Velazquez this came with a lifetime best of 23:35.65 over the 5000m distance. Shortly after freshman Bella Shields placed 105^th and Alondra Velazquez took 117^th with the second fastest time of her career. The lady pioneers are back to full strength next week at the Upstate Invitational in Spartanburg.

The men’s team saw Luke Kochanowicz lead the squad again, finishing 61^st in 29:06.84. A big personal best from freshman Ryan Hunter secured him 101^st with a time of 30:36.14. Jose Pacheco and Seth Mullen finished back to back for 131^st and 132^nd, while Devon Kimble returned from injury to round out the scoring 5. It is also worth noting that freshman Nolan Vrooman had a lifetime best by 5 seconds as the 7^th finisher on the pioneers. The men’s team took 16^th place in the Blue Race and are looking to continue their momentum into the region championships later this month.