CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In back-to-back weeks, North Carolina Central University freshman Meshack Kuyo won the men's 8K race, this time at the Royals Challenge hosted by Queens University at the McAlpine Creek Park. Kuyo's run helped the men's team finish in sixth while the women's team placed 15th.
Just a week after knocking down a school record, Kuyo (Nairobi, Kenya) finished with a faster time of 23:54.64 winning the Royal Challenge Men's 8K Gold race beating his former personal record of 24:11.3.
Darnell Almanzar, assistant cross country coach for NCCU, wasn't surprised as he pushed Kuyo with high goals before the race. "I told Meshack to go out for the win today," said Almanzar. "Going into conference championships, I wanted him to get comfortable running for the victory and I'm excited to see how he does at MEACs and beyond."
Kuyo was proud of the performance and the motivation it was able to give the team stating, "I want our team to use this performance as we keep training and getting better," said Kuyo. "I'm proud of my teammates and I'm excited for the rest of the season."
Junior Emmanuel Paddyfote continues to elevate his performance with a new personal record of 25:03.27 for a 33rd-place finish.
Two more Eagles would gain new personal records as well. Evans Kimutai was one of them, running a time of 25:36.37. Sebastian Dozier also broke 26 minutes for a new personal record (25:59.30). Ryan Chong's 26:14.02 performance clinched the fifth spot for the qualifying team score.
On the women's side, the Eagles had five runners compete. Sophomore Alitza Dennard ran a new personal record with a time of 18:54.92. Her previous PR was on the same course when she competed as a freshman at Campbell University (19:01.8).
Junior Kayla Johnson finished under 20 minutes for the first time with a season-best time of 19:26.06. Freshmen Sharon Magut and Navi McDowell also gained new PR's of 19:56.74 and 21:59.52, respectively. Senior Taylor Hanson rounded out the field running 23:14.12.
Both NC Central cross country teams turn their preparation towards the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships on Nov. 2 in Smyrna, Del.
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