Flyers Open Cross Country Season on a Positive Note in Charlotte
Freshmen Sam Patterson and Austin Greene represented the Sandhills Community College men's cross country team in its opening meet of the season at the Royals Challenge held at the Hodges Family Farm in Charlotte on Friday afternoon.
Hosted by Queen City Track Club, the field of 53 runners included members of three NCAA and two NAIA colleges. Patterson, a Union Pines High School grad, finished in 34th place with a time of 26:54. His time was the fifth best among the 20 freshmen contestants. Greene, a product of East Lincoln High School, finished 46th with a time of 28:49.
Patterson's twin brother Josh, the third member of the Flyers men's squad, was unable to race because of a left foot injury. Mia Hurd, a graduate of Sandhills Theatre Arts and Renaissance School, began training with Flyers' Coach Kyndal Giddens later than the others and did not compete in the women's race.
Five runners are required in order to post a team score. Milligan College won the men's competition and Anderson (SC) was the women's winner. Montreat, UNC Pembroke, Francis Marion and Cleveland CC (Shelby, NC) were the other colleges participating.
The men's course was about 600 meters short of the usual 8 kilometers for college meets.
"The course was somewhat challenging with rolling hills and unsteady terrain but it was a great cross country course in my opinion," Giddens said on Saturday. "I am so proud of them both. Keep in mind neither of them have ever raced over a 5K so they were reasonably nervous before hand.
"I'm happy with their times. Even though I had no expectations, this was an effort to test them and see where their fitness levels lie after the previous weeks of hard training. They had a great time and looked strong throughout. I'm looking forward to getting Josh back healthy and for Mia to keep improving."
Led by Coach Jef Moody, the cross country program got off to strong start at its inception in 2017. The team finished third at the national meet that year and second in 2018. The Lady Flyers were also competitive finishing ninth and eighth respectively. Union Pines grad Daniel Taylor was the individual runner-up in 2017 and the national champion in 2018.
Giddens, a standout as a collegian at UNC-Pembroke, and a qualifier for the 2021 Boston Marathon, came on board, succeeding last year's coach Tim Nocton during the summer. The late start and no returnees from last year's squads that included five men and two women, coupled with Covid 19 implications, contributed to this season's low numbers.
"I'm trying to create a program of inclusion and hard work," she says. "Anyone can join us at any point. I'm hoping next season and even in the spring we'll have more people come out.
"If you come out and put out your best effort we're going to have a great time. Even though we won't officially run track and field I'd love to keep practicing and roll them over into next season."
For more than a month the team has begun workouts at 6:30 a.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the field in front of the Dempsey Student Center, utilizing the many trails available in the surrounding area.
Greene, who is from the Charlotte area, thinks the early morning workouts have helped the team bond. His grandparents and an aunt attended Sandhills. He is majoring in respiratory therapy.
The Patterson's were coached at Union Pines by Nat Carter. Giddens describes them as being very competitive with each other. They are from Missouri and came here as a result of their father being in the military. Both are in the engineering program at Sandhills.
As a result of college credits they earned in high school, they are on schedule to graduate from Sandhills next May. They aspire to be aero-space engineers and the plan for the next step is to attend Missouri State Technical College.
Sam talked about having the opportunity to run with Union Pines alums Taylor and Ben Verchick, who was the runner-up at the 2017 NCHSAA 3A State Championship, on some weekends.
"They were great runners and little sophomore and junior me would go with those absolute titans of runners," he recalled. "It definitely helped me get better."
Giddens likes the attitude of Hurd who is an early arrival for workouts. She is majoring in landscape gardening.
"Mia works hard and I think she is a great asset to the team," the coach says. "She wants to get in shape and be healthy and is in it for the fun of it."
Giddens estimates the team has been averaging 38 to 45 miles per week with the goal of getting up to 50, plus another 16 on their own on the weekend.
Unless another meet is added to the fall schedule, the next one will be the Region X championship on October 31. The NJCAA Division III National Championship follows on November 14 at Iowa Central CC in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
C. Bergmann