Spartanburg, S.C. -- The Catamount cross country squads closed out the 2024 regular season on a high note, as three men's runners posted top ten all-time 8K times for a second-place team finish and the women's team earned a top six finish at the Upstate Invite. Drew Zink and Katherine Hopkins both led their teams for the third-straight race, though Zink was closely followed by Chase Thurber and Lawson Mecom. All three men's runners posted sub-25:00 8K times while Hopkins recorded a sub-18:00 effort in the 5K.  
 
"Over the moon excited about our performances today. From top to bottom we did a great job of competing. The team finally followed the race plan and had confidence in themselves" said head coach Jesse Norman, whose men's team claimed their top team finish since taking second place at the Asheville Cross Country Invitational in 2017. "We had numerous people break into the all-time list and/or set PR's today. The next challenge for us will be in our ability to replicate and build upon this result in two weeks at the conference championships." 
 
Drew Zink, Chase Thurber, and Lawson Mecom all sprinted their way to the all-time performance list, with all three cracking the top ten in the 8K. Zink and Thurber posted the first sub-24:43 8K times since 2012 and are 5th and 6th on the all time list with times of 24:35.6 and 24:42.2 respectively. Lawson Mecom's 24:54.6 finish places him tenth on the all-time list and just behind coach Norman's 24:48 mark earned at the SoCon Championships in 2001. Freshman transfer Logan Gullet and senior John Davis rounded out the Catamount scorers on the day as the team with 24th and 36th place finishes. Justin Hayes followed close behind Davis, taking 38th and he was followed by Peter Schihl at 55th. All five scoring Catamounts as well as the two alternates posted sub 26:00 marks in Spartanburg for a total of 71 points.  
 
The women's team was once again led by Katherine Hopkins, who was one of only six athletes in the nearly 200 athlete field to finish her 5K in under 18:00. With a 17:59.5 finish, the standout sophomore finished just a hair shy of her personal best in the event, a 17:58 mark also achieved at the Upstate Invitational last season. Hopkins was followed by sophomore Grace Lane, who took 30th in the race. The rest of the scoring Catamount runners crossed close together, as Braelyn-Shae Wahy, Peyton Skoglund, Hannah Kliner, and Sara Klemm all finished within 20 seconds of each other and took 36th, 37th, 46th, and 47th place respectively. Riley McKinney's time of 19:17.1 earned 61st as the junior was the seventh Catamount to cross the finish line. The women's team finished with 145 points on the day and were one of only six teams to finish with fewer than 220 points.  
 
The Purple and Gold have two weeks to themselves to condition before the Southern Conference championships scheduled for November 2. The Conference championships will be held in Greenville, S.C. and are hosted by Furman.