Charlotte, N.C. – The King University cross country team went to the Royals Cross Country Challenge with multiple top teams in the conference and region. Mario Ruda Puertas stood out again for King with a top-15 finish in the men's race.
Men's team
Puertas led the Tornado with a time of 24:39.9 for his first all-out racing 8k of the season. He was the third-best in Conference Carolinas. With this time, he also broke the school record.
Cole Johnson was the second Tornado athlete to cross the finish line with a season-best time of 25:48.2 in 80th place.
Spencer Utsey and Lance Hatcher were the third and fourth King athletes with times of 26:32.5 and 27:02.8, respectively. Utsey finished in 135th place, and Hatcher finished in 167th.
The King team finished in 18th place overall with an average 8k time of 26:24 for the top five athletes.
Women's team
The team had Alexis LaDuc lead the way with a time of 20:16.6 in the 5k with a 43rd-place finish. Ermay Vazquez was right behind her with a time of 20:44.3 and finished in 55th place.
Kailee-Ann Conner was the third-best King athlete, finishing in 72nd place with a time of 21:16.6.
The team finished 12th overall, with an average time of 21:52 for the top five.
Up next
The Tornado will now set their eyes on the postseason, with the first race coming on Saturday, November 7th at the Conference Carolinas Championships.
This content is sourced from
King Tornado Athletics – King University
. It reflects the author's views and has not been edited by our newsroom. It may have been generated using AI assistance.
