The Emory men's and women's cross country teams went to Spartanburg, South Carolina for the Converse Kickoff and came home with a pair of first-place finishes. The No. 23 men's team posted a score of 40 with a team average of 25:37, seven seconds better than second-place Berry. The No. 20 women came away with a score of 46, with an average time of 23:02 to finish first out of 11 teams.
The Eagles were led by several newcomers, with freshmen Kirin Karver and Olin Gilster leading the way. In their first race at the 8k distance, Karver finished second overall with a time of 25:19.7 and Gilster finished fifth overall right behind his teammate at 25:31.0.
Juniors David Evans, Jonathan Orelowitz, and Scott Masterson also posted top-15 finishes, finishing 7th, 12th, and 14th respectively. Every runner for the Eagles finished in the top-90 in a 144-person field.
Graduate student Brigid Hanley had another stellar race, finishing second overall with a time of 21:52.0. Sophomores Luna McCauley and Katherine Kennedy had top-10 finishes as well, finishing sixth and ninth respectively.
The Eagles received strong performances from their freshmen runners once again. Newcomers Cameron Gupta, Madison Tiaffay, and Payton Fleming all finished in the top-25 in a deep 110-person race.
The Eagles will be back on the course on Saturday, September 30 as some will make the trip to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the Paul Short Run and the rest of the team will compete at the Berry College Invitational.