The Mercer men’s and women’s cross-country teams were featured in the North Alabama Showcase on Sept. 17. The competition took place at John Hunt Park in Huntsville, Alabama. The Men's team finished 11th in the Men's 8K Race while the Women's team finished 19th overall in the Women's 5K Race, according to AthleticLive.
Along with Mercer, 21 other colleges competed in the showcase. Alabama, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee were some of the more notable schools representing the SEC at the showcase. The Mercer Bears also faced other teams in the Southern Conference such as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, East Tennessee State University and Samford University.
Five Mercer men placed in the top 100 out of 169 runners in the 8K Race. Joshua Kraver finished 27th with a time of 25:15.00. Vladimir Zander-Velloso was 35th and finished at 25:24.24. Jonathan Greene finished 56th, Reece Cato finished 78th and Connor Kaufman finished 85th.
One member of the Mercer women's team, Laney Doster, placed in the top 100. She placed 78 in the 5K Race in 18:55.
The women’s and men’s cross-country teams will be back on the road Oct. 2 in Fairburn, Georgia for the Asics Invitational hosted at Chattahoochee Hills Eventing. The men’s meet is scheduled for 7:50 a.m., and the women’s starts at 8:45 a.m., according to Mercer Athletics.
