ELON, N.C. — The High Point University women's cross country team opened up the season with a 5th place finish at the "Friday Night Lights" Elon Cross Country Opener. The Panthers were led by Olivia Purdy, who finished in 18th with a 4k time of 14:20.8. Shauna Skow finished in second for the Panthers at 14:38.1.

"Overall, I'd give us a C+ as a rating," Head Coach Remy Tamer stated. "I'm trying my best as a coach tonight to discern between the place of each finisher in their running time and the way in which they competed, so how they went out and who they decided to align themselves with, and watching them take competitive risks when fatigued. I think there were some really bright spots, but I'm giving us a hard grade because I think we have a lot of improvement to go."

Freshman Charlotte Heaton finished in third for the Panthers with a time of 14:55.1. Heaton opened up her collegiate career placing 31st overall. Evie Wild followed Heaton with a 15:09.0 finish. Senior Mikayla Moxley placed just inside the top 50 with a 15:22.9.

The depth of the team is evident when, in the first meet of the season, the Panthers were led by a first-year runner and a senior, along with another freshman finishing third. This highlights the program's overall strengths.

"I really liked what Olivia Purdy did," Tamer added. "I liked that she went forward up front and tried to mix it up with the top group. She has a lot of room for improvement in overall fitness and race readiness, but you know, it's the first race of the season. Shauna Skow, she's got the ability she needs to find that confidence ,to take the final step forward and move to those two things. Mikayla Moxley did really well; she ran composed, and we want to push the limits of our mental and emotional strength. Fitness is always great in being in good running form, but there's something that's special about having great self-efficacy in what you're going to accomplish, so we want to see that from her.

I was moderately happy with the professionalism that the women had today and just kind of being on task. Everything kind of gearing into the first competition can be a little wacky, warming up and getting to the start line ready and prepared, but I think we have a good structure to build on throughout the season. I think we're going to be pretty good."

Given the impressive debuts from Purdy and Heaton the Panthers will be very competitive once again throughout the 2025 season.

Runners Charli Montalvo, Brianna Malone, Alyssa Hendrix, and Danielle Jensen did not run for the Panthers on Friday night.

UP NEXT: The Panthers head to Raleigh, N.C., on Friday, September 19th for the Adidas XC Challenge hosted by N.C. State University.