Elon¹s Oram Sets Women’s Cross Country School-Record at NCAA Pre-Nationals

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Senior Allyson Oram of the Elon University women’s cross country team established a new school-record today, Oct. 19, as the Phoenix competed at the NCAA Pre-National meet. Oram ran a time of 21:18.34 in the women’s 6K blue run, breaking Caitlin Beeler’s previous six-year mark (21:35.40) by nearly 17 seconds.

Oram’s time was 33 seconds better than her previous personal-best (21:51.00) that she set a year ago at the Pre-National meet. The senior from Marlborough, Mass., was the Phoenix’s top female finisher at the event that featured many of the top cross country programs and competitors in the nation on both the men’s and women’s side.

“Allyson ran a great race today,” said Elon head coach Christine Engel. “She was really aggressive and competitive and it culminated in a 33-second personal-record and a new school-record. Overall, it was a great race that she planned really well.”

Elon’s Luis Vargas also competed at the Pre-Nationals meet in the men’s 8K white run and finished as the runner-up with a time of 24:30.11. Vargas, who was named the Southern Conference’s Male Runner of the Month for September, finished between the UNCG tandem of Paul Chelimo and Paul Katam, who were runners-up at the NCAA National Track and Field Outdoor Championships last season.

“Luis ran a perfectly executed race,” said Engel. “He ran very strong and smooth and competed well to finish between a couple of NCAA National Runners-up from track and field.”

Elyse Bierut was the next runner for the Phoenix women to cross the line with a time of 22:03.78. Kaitlin Snapp broke into the top-10 on the program’s all-time performance list with a new personal-record of 22:11.20, sixth-best in school history. Tereza Novotna also improved on her personal-best with a time of 22:19.50. Kimberly Johansen (22:26.07) and Haylee Dawe (22:27.29) rounded out the team score for the maroon and gold women, who finished 44th overall at the meet.

Elon will take a break before competing at the Southern Conference Championships on Nov. 2, in Birmingham, Ala., hosted by Samford.