Senior runner Allyson Oram broke the Elon University school record in the 6K as the Elon cross country team had a strong showing in the NCAA Pre-Nationals Saturday, Oct. 19, in Terre Haute, Ind.
Oram’s time of 21:18.34 shattered the previous mark held by Caitlin Beeler. The new mark is 17 second better than Beeler’s old mark. Oram’s time broke her own personal record by more than a half minute, crossing the finish line 33 seconds before her previous mark.
Junior Luis Vargas had a strong showing of his own in the men’s 8K race, as the N.C. native finished as the runner-up in the race, clocking in with a time of 24:30.11. Vargas finished in between the duo of conference rival University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Paul Chelimo and Paul Katam.
Sophomore Elyse Bierut was the second Elon runner to cross the finish line with a time of 22:03.78 on the women’s side. Sophomore Kaitlin Snapp set a new personal-record with a time of 22:11.20. Snapp’s time was good enough for sixth place in the Elon record book. Sophomore Tereza Novotna also set a personal-best with a time of 22:19.50.
Freshman Kimberly Johansen (22:26.07), junior Haylee Dawe (22:27.29), and freshman Shelby Cuddeback (22:37.76) rounded out the top seven women’s runners that competed for the Phoenix. The women’s team placed No. 44 overall in the competition.
The Phoenix cross country team will resume their 2013 campaign at the Southern Conference Championships Nov. 2 in Birmingham Ala. The meet will be hosted by the Samford University Bulldogs.