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ELON – The Elon men’s and women’s cross country teams return to competition Friday at the Queen City Invite, hosted by Queens at McAlpine Creek Park in Charlotte, North Carolina. The women’s 5K race will begin at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the men’s 8K at 6:45 p.m. ET.
The Phoenix enters its second meet of the season after opening the 2026 campaign at home last Friday. The Elon women won the Elon Opener for the third consecutive year, while the men placed fifth.
MEET INFORMATION
Date & Time: Friday, Sept. 11 | 6 p.m. ET (Women) | 6:45 p.m. ET (Men)
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina | McAlpine Creek Park
Host: Queens
Women’s Race: 5K
Men’s Race: 8K
Live Results: QueensAthletics.com
Meet & Course Info: QueensAthletics.com
WHAT TO KNOW – ELON WOMEN
Elon opened its season with a dominant showing at the Elon Opener, sweeping the top four individual places and finishing with 21 points to win the team championship for the third consecutive year.
Senior Abby Beville led the way by winning the women’s 4K in 13:58.4, capturing the Elon Opener individual title for the second straight season. Her performance earned her CAA Women’s Cross Country Co-Runner of the Week honors for the second time in her career.
Freshman Brynne Gordon made an immediate impact in her collegiate debut, finishing runner-up to Beville in 14:02.2. Senior Hannah Weber followed in third at 14:12.5, while freshman Millie Gold completed the Phoenix’s sweep of the top four with a 14:21.9 effort in her first collegiate race.
Kate Buerger placed 12th in the opener and Quinn Smith finished 14th as all five of Elon’s scoring runners crossed the line among the top 12 attached collegiate finishers.
Friday will mark Elon’s first 5K of the season. Katie Blount and Beville own the first- and third-fastest 5K times in program history after clocking personal records of 16:41.4 and 17:05.2, respectively, at the adidas XC Challenge last season.
WHAT TO KNOW – ELON MEN
Elon placed fifth at the season-opening Elon Opener, finishing just seven points behind fourth-place Davidson and 22 behind third-place High Point.
Fifth-year Evan Taylor and sophomore Luke Chisum led the Phoenix with back-to-back top-11 finishes. Taylor crossed the line 10th in 19:30.1, while Chisum followed just two-tenths of a second later in 11th.
Taylor, an All-CAA performer in 2024, raced just twice during the 2025 season with both appearances coming in the postseason before opening his final collegiate campaign with Elon’s top finish last week.
Josh Driscoll was the third Phoenix runner across the line at the Elon Opener, placing 28th in 20:04.4. Freshman Kevin Steinman was fourth for Elon and 36th overall in 20:19.4 in his collegiate debut, while Juan Pablo Castillo-Zima completed the scoring five in 38th.
The Queen City Invite will give the Phoenix its first 8K test of the season after opening the year with a 6K race at home. Taylor ranks 10th all-time at Elon in the men’s 8K, having clocked 25:03.0 at the ECU Pirate XC Invitational on Oct. 4, 2024.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Elon cross country, follow the Phoenix on X (@ElonXCTF) and Instagram (ElonXCTF).