SIGNATURE EVENT: It is always nice to kick off a season with a bang, and the Methodist men's and women's cross country teams did just that at the 2019 Monarch Classic in late August. In the first meet of the season the Monarch women doubled up on the trophy stand, capturing first-place team honors as well as individual first-place honors with Makayla Lawler's victory in the six-kilometer race. In the men's 8-kilometer event it was freshman Andrew Topoly leading the Methodist men, notching a second-place individual finish in his initial collegiate race, helping his team earn second place on the team leaderboard, just three points shy of the top spot. A positive omen for the rest of the season was freshman Courtney Drumm's second-place finish in the women's race, and sixth- and seventh-place finishes, respectively, by Jonathan Wertz and Cameron Adair in the men's event.

SEASON NOTES: Lawler would finish her season with three more top-five finishes … the junior earned all-conference honors with a third place at the USA South Athletic Conference championship meet in early November, then concluded her season just three spots away from all-region honors after placing 38th at the NCAA Division III South/Southeast Region championship meet … Drumm would add another runner-up finish during the season, leading the Monarchs at the N.C. Wesleyan XC Classic … Topoly posted a top-10 finish in his second race for Methodist, placing ninth at the Adidas XC Challenge hosted by N.C. State … the Adidas meet also produced a solid 'team' result for the Monarchs, who placed third in the men's race and fourth in the women's event.

POSTSEASON NOTES:

• USA South All-Conference: Makayla Lawler (first team), Courtney Drumm (second), Andrew Topoly (third), Connor Ayers (honorable mention)
• USA South All-Sportsmanship Team: Lemlem Gebremichele

LOOKING AHEAD: head coach Jack Brunecz will welcome back the 1-2 punch of Lawler and Drumm on the women's side of the ledger in 2020. Olivia Mague finished as the team's No. 3 runner at the conference meet and should also add to Brunecz' core competitors next fall. Topoly will only improve as he heads into his second collegiate season, while Connor Ayers will make a run for higher all-conference honors in his senior season. The duo that finished Nos. 1 and 2 for the Monarchs at the conference meet will be joined by three others -- Jonathan Wertz, Cameron Adair and Stephen Dukes -- that composed five of the men's team's top six spots at the conference championship.