Elon Women’s Cross Country – Bierut and Oram Establish New School Marks at Pre-NCAA Nationals Meet

LOUISVILLE, KY. – Freshman Elyse Bierut and junior Allyson Oram ran the second and third fastest 6K times in school history as the Elon women’s cross country program competed at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet on Saturday morning. Bierut ran a time of 21:50.6, while Oram crossed the line at a time of 21:51.0 in the race at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park.

“We’re very excited for Elyse and Ally running the second and third best times in school history,” said Phoenix head coach Christine Engel. “I was really happy with the way they ran together as a team.”

The Phoenix finished 33rd overall at the meet, featuring numerous powerhouses that finished among the elite at the 2011 national championships.

“This is the biggest meet that we’ve ever raced in,” Engel added. “Some these are the best teams in the country, teams that are going to be vying for national championships.”

Bierut lead the team for the first time this season, just edging out her teammate Oram by one second as the Rocky River, Ohio, native broke into the record books for the first time. Oram previously held the seventh all-time mark and improved on that time by 30 seconds with today’s performance.

Freshman Tereza Novotna was third to cross the line for Elon with a time of 22:24.5 with teammate Emily Tryon right behind her at 22:26.4. Haylee Dawe was also close with her mark of 22:28.7.

Senior Christine Pacewicz (22:47.4) and freshman Kaitlin Snapp (22:51.2) rounded out the times for the maroon and gold.

“We definitely competed well and kept our composure throughout the race. I felt that we did a great job and it was a much better team effort than two weeks ago at Charlotte.”

The women’s and men’s programs will return to the course on Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Southern Conference Cross Country Championships in Charleston, S.C.