BOONE, N.C. – Senior Ben Perron established a new personal-record as members of the Elon University cross country teams competed on Friday, Oct. 18, at the Blue Ridge Open, hosted by Appalachian State. Perron paced the men’s squad with a time of 25:15.55 in the 8K gold race, the fourth-fastest time in school history.
Perron finished 18th overall out of 229 runners as the Phoenix men earned 12th place in the 28th-team field. Junior Ari Rothschild was the next Elon runner to cross the line in 61st and a time of 25:56.06, followed by Nick Schneider’s time of 26:13.87 in 82nd. James Stevenson (113th, 26:45.91) and Ryan Gwaltney (117th, 26:50.91) rounded out the top five for the maroon and gold.
The Elon women’s “B” team finished 13th out of 27 teams in the women’s 5K gold race. Jenny Gallagher was the top finisher with a 34th place standing out of 216 runners and a time of 19:08.60. Jackie Madden was the next runner to cross the line for the Phoenix in 56th and a time of 19:23.82. Brenna McDavid had a time 19:48.72 and was 84th while Kaitlin Stober (111th, 20:13.55) and Kylie Womack (128th, 20:29.68) rounded out the team score.
Furman took the team title in the women’s race with a score of 45, edging out host Appalachian State who finished with 64. The Mountaineers did win the men’s crown after finishing with 102 points, beating out Cedarville (118) and George Mason (124).
The Phoenix will race tomorrow at the NCAA Pre-Nationals meet in Terra Haute, Ind., with the men’s Luis Vargas and the normal top seven of the women’s team scheduled to compete.