Junior Luis Vargas stole the show at the fifth annual Elon Invitational Saturday Sept. 14, as he came within three seconds of breaking Elon University’s school record in the 8K by clocking in with a time of 24:19. But, overall, Vargas led the men’s side to an overall victory with his first place finish.
“I surprised myself today,” Vargas said. “I didn’t know I was going as fast as I was. The game plan was to stay strong, keep it up, and don’t let emotion get to you.”
The women came up just short in their race, losing out to Southern Conference rivals University of North Carolina at Greensboro by one point.
“It’s obviously a little bit upsetting coming up a point short from winning,” said sophomore Kaitlin Snapp. “It shows that we have a lot to build on.”
UNCG senior Shaina Sumney finished first in the woman’s race with a time of 17:36. She finished second in the 2012 race running as an independent behind her sister, Chelsea Sumney. Fellow Spartan, sophomore Lydia Saina, finished second overall in the woman’s race, finishing three seconds behind Sumney with a time of 17:39.
The first Elon woman to finish was senior Allyson Oram. She finished in third place crossing the finish line with a time of 17:42.
“Ally did a great job of moving up the field in the second half of the race (and) finished really strong,” said head coach Christine Engel.
UNCG and Elon dominated the women’s field, as runners from the two schools comprised the entire top ten. Impressively, the Phoenix had the No. 5 through No. 9 finishers.
“The women did a great job of really packing it in,” Engel said. “Our gap was really strong. They worked together really well (together).”
Despite a heartbreaking loss on their own soil, the women’s team looked for positives in their individual performances as well as their performance as a team.
“We all worked really well together,” Oram said. “That was our goal before hand to work together. We wish we could have won but we all did a lot better than we did last year with our times.”
Much like UNCG on the women’s side, Elon men finished one-two in the meet. Vargas won the overall race in beating teammate Ben Perron. Perron’s time of 25:29 tied his personal best.
“(The race) fefinitely went well and was able to race up to where my fitness has been,” Perron said. “Training has been going well so I was able to get it (going) out there today.
Overall, six men finished in the top ten for Elon as they edged out UNCG.
“Really great day for the guys, (especially) getting the win over UNCG,” said Engel.
Individual and team performances aside, Snapp said the Elon Invitational was a success, and a cause for celebration for the teams.
“It’s awesome to represent our school (at home),” she said. “To run on your home course, there’s so much pride there. It’s a big deal because our parents are here, alumni are here, it’s a big event.”
Aside from the benefits of running on a familiar course, the home field advantage of a great crowd aided the Elon runners.
“The support was awesome pre-race and during the race and adds to the excitement,” said Perron.
The Phoenix will resume their season in two weeks time when both the men’s and women’s teams will travel to Charlotte to take part in the Charlotte Invitational.