Logan Township, NJ - The Southern Virginia University men's and women's cross country teams went split-squad over the weekend and competed in two meets, the Rowan Intercollegiate Border Battle in New Jersey and the Roanoke XC Invitational nearby. Overall, the teams put together strong performances, particularly in New Jersey, where the men and women placed 16th out of over thirty programs, many of which are ranked amongst the best in the country.

The women were the first to toe the line, competing in the 6,000-meter event in a field of 260 athletes. After a strong performance at pre-nationals earlier this season, they were motivated to build on that performance. The Knights formed two strong groups of four and stayed together for much of the race. Bayleigh Redd and Heidi Barton moved well in the second half of the course, consistently improving their place at each checkpoint. The duo each surpassed their previous personal bests by a wide margin, as Redd finished with a time of 23:05 to finish 43rd, and Barton came in at 23:19 to finish 57th. They nearly became the second and third runners in program history to run under 23 minutes.

Elizabeth Dalebout ran well in the three spot, crossing the line in 23:59 to finish in the top 100. Kamryn Bradshaw, McKenzie Ball, Emmalee Gabrylczyk, and Jasmine De Souza provided quality depth as well, the latter two also running personal bests.

In the men's race, Kaelen Ruder again led the way along with Joseph Hughes and Kedryn Chandler. Ruder produced another personal best, finishing in 25:21 for 23rd place, becoming just the third Knight to ever dip under the 25:30 barrier. Joseph Hughes impressed as well by dismantling his previous best with a finish of 25:43, which was good for 40th place. Kedryn Chandler would round out the top three for the team by finishing in 82nd with a time of 26:29. One of the weekend's biggest stories is the continued improvement of the Knights' fourth finisher, Kenyon Kemp. Kemp has become a staple in the Knights' top four this season and has improved by over three minutes since his first career meet. He's ran a personal best in three of the last four meets, scoring points in each of them.

Southern Virginia didn't send enough runners to score as a team in Roanoke, but they still performed admirably against stiff competition. Carter Johnson led the men with a finishing time of 28:02, while Logan Decker and Truman Meyer each ran personal bests. Madeleine Creasy was the top finisher for the women, followed by Amaura Laudie and BreAnna Thurgood, who competed well in their first career 6K.

The Knights will now shift their focus to the postseason, with the USA South Cross Country Championships next on their schedule. The meet will occur on Saturday, November 2nd, and the events will begin at 11:00 AM. The men are searching for their fourth straight championship, while the women want to reclaim the title they last won in 2021. For the most up-to-date details and information on the team, visit knightathletics.com and follow @knightxctf on Instagram.