Elon University senior Luis Vargas won his fourth consecutive race of the season at the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday, Oct. 18. He along with select members of the Elon men’s and women’s cross country team competed at the La Vern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, Ind.
Vargas finished the race with a time of 24:20.3 in the men’s 8K white run, just four seconds behind his school and personal record. This race marks his fifth overall first-place finish during his career at Elon — and the fourth straight this season.
Another senior on the men’s team, Ari Rothschild, also competed at the meet. He finished 25th out of 193 runners in the white race crossing the line at 25:40, 10 seconds off of his personal best.
For the women’s team, senior Jenny Gallagher led the Phoenix with a time of 21:40, finishing 55th out of 293 runners in the 6K blue race. That put her in the record books with the third-fastest time in program history.
Behind Gallagher was senior Tereza Novotna who finished the race at 22:04.8 coming in 99th. Emily Dunne crossed the line next at 22:21.1, followed by Elyse Bierut who came in at 22:23.1 in 151st.
Kaitlin Snapp (22:40.0, 190th) and Haylee Dawe (22:59.4, 227th) finished up the race for the Phoenix. The women’s team moved up nearly 20 spots from a year ago at Pre-Nationals, finishing 25th overall in the race.
Both Phoenix cross country teams will be back out on the course on Nov. 1 to compete at the Colonial Athletic Association championships in Boston, Mass.