Spartanburg - For the first time in school history, the Trailblazers won the Conference Carolinas Cross Country Championships with a total of 43 points, obliterating the old school record with a new team average of 22:56 for the 6k. For all the effort he has dedicated towards the team, head coach Cameron Stober won the Women's Coach of the Year Award. 

Crossing the line first for the Trailblazers was Cecily Anderton, with a personal best time of 22:14 for the 6k, setting a new school record. With her second-place finish overall, Anderton made First Team All-Conference. Right behind her in third place was Ellie Timmons, with a one-minute personal best time of 22:27, making her second on the all-time list for the program and qualifying her for First Team All-Conference. Timmons was also Freshman of the Year. Next was Riley Nicholson with a time of 22:54, making her third on the all-time list for the program and the third Trailblazer on the First Team All-Conference. Toeing the line next was Riley Shope with a personal best of 23:02, adding her name to the fourth spot on the all-time list for the program and qualifying her for a spot on the Second Team All-Conference. Rounding out the top five was Addison Martin with a personal best of 23:56, the eighth spot on the all-time list for the program, and a spot on the Third Team All-Conference. 

Other notable performances for the women's team include Christiana Gidney, who ran a two-minute personal best of 24:02, making her number nine on the all-time list for the program and allowing her to snag the last spot on the Third Team All-Conference. Rebekah Haddad ran a minute personal best of 24:31, just two places shy of making an All-Conference Team. Paris Alsup ran a huge personal best of 24:41. Michaela Lanier and Kaylee Copeland finished with huge personal bests of 25:06 and 25:08, respectively. Lydia Gray ran a two-minute personal best time of 26:10. Brelyn Birch ran a personal best of 27:50 in her first 6k. Avery Shope won the Elite 23 Award for Highest Cumulative GPA in the Conference. 

From Coach Stober
"Today was a historic day for our program. For as long as we've had a cross country program, we've never finished higher than second at a Conference Championship. I, personally, have been chasing this for 10 years. To finally win a conference title as a team means so much. And to do it with the group that we did it with makes it even better."We knew going into this season that this was the most talented group of women we've ever had. But we also knew that there were other really talented teams in our conference. Converse and UNCP have put forth really strong women's teams over the past few years, so we knew that a conference title would be a battle.

Cecily led our women's team with a second place overall finish. The highest individual finish for a woman in program history. She ran absolutely amazing today. Ellie also had an incredible race. As a true freshman she finished third overall which proved to be huge when it came to team points. Riley Nicholson put it together when it mattered most finishing third for us. She ran her best race of the season and made a pass on the finishing straight that could've been the difference between us finishing first or second. Riley Shope also had her best race of the season, again when it mattered the most. She was huge for us as our fourth. Avery, who has run consistently as our number three all season had a rough day as she was battling sickness this week. She gave her best effort but we knew early on that we needed some other girls to step up. The two girls that rose to the occasion where Christiana and Addison. Christiana absolutely ran the race of her life. She was our number five for the majority of the race. She helped pull Addison along who ultimately finished as our fifth girl. We wouldn't have won today had it not been for those two girls. The race was ultimately decided by only two points. Those two points can be attributed to any of our top six girls. Beyond our top six we had multiple personal bests and season bests. On the day we had 11 personal bests, six top 10 all time performances, and a school record for 6K team average. Additionally, we had six girls earn all conference honors, freshman of the year, and the elite 23 award winner. Truly a historic day for our program.

I told the team today that what our women's team accomplished transcends just this year's team. It's a result of the others who have laid the foundation…both women and men. What our women did today wouldn't have been possible without the guys team. It wouldn't have been possible without the runners that came through this program before them. It wouldn't have been possible without the support of so many…parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, staff (athletic trainers, administration, professors, etc.) Most of all it wouldn't have been possible without God. I'm so grateful to Him for the group of young people that make up this program. For the ones that came before this team. For allowing us to stay as healthy as we did this season.

Today is a day that all of us will never forget. It's something that we've worked so hard and so long for. We made history today. I'm so proud of this team. Only they know the work that was put in that led us to today. They deserve it. I'm just so proud, so happy, and so grateful."

Next, the women's team will be racing at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on November 9, at Milliken Arboretum in Spartanburg, SC.