BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The High Point University women's cross country team headed up north for the Panthers' third meet of the season and the first 6k race. In a race full of Power Conferences and many others, High Point prevailed with an 18th overall finish out of 40 teams on Friday afternoon at the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The Panthers were led by junior Brianna Malone's 23rd placement within a field of nearly 350 runners.

"There was some solid performances today, but the team knows what we need to work on going forward into championship season," HPU Head Coach Remy Tamer said. "Going into Paul Short, our goal was to focus on positioning and racing the way we want to at Regionals. We're still in a heavy training phase, but I'm excited to see how the team performs once we shift our focus to more race-specific work."

Malone was first on the Panthers' squad with a personal record time of 20.21.2, and was followed behind once again for the second race this season by the grad student Alyssa Hendrix. Hendrix finished 52nd overall with a personal record time of 20.49.7. Both Hendrix and Malone smashed their personal records, Malone setting her new personal record by shaving off 28 seconds from last year's NCAA regional race. 

The third runner to come through the chute in Lehigh for the Panthers was Charli Montalvo, who finished 84th overall with a time of 21.10.7. Not too far behind her, finishing right before the 22-minute mark was Olivia Purdy, who continued her strong freshman season with a 206th place finish. 

Shauna Skow was the fifth and last scoring runner for the Panthers, who finished with a time of 22.36.6 and placed 246th. Finishing right at 23 minutes was Charlotte Heaton, and she is continuing her freshman season on a strong note. Heaton was followed within 30 seconds by both seniors Mikayla Moxley and Lauren Vossen, which rounds out the Panthers eight runners to compete today. 

After the last race, Coach Tamer mentioned that he wanted to focus on winning another conference title, and the Panthers are one step closer after beating Longwood today.

UP NEXT: The Panthers head to Charlottesville, Virginia, to run in the Panorama Farms Invite on October 17, which is the last invitational before the Big South Conference race.