LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rookie Nick Ciolkowski clocked in the third-best performance in school history in the men’s 8K as the Elon University cross country programs competed at the prestigious Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday morning, Oct. 3, at the course at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park.
Ciolkowski ran a time of 24:58.17 and finished 68th overall in the men’s gold race that featured a number of nationally and regionally ranked teams and individuals. Following Ciolkowski for the Phoenix men was senior Reed Payne who ran a time of 25:57.83 while sophomore Sam Geha was next up for Elon with a time of 26:07.79. Ryan Gwaltney (26:14.93), Ian O’Leary (26:24.48), Greg Paugh (26:35.29), Carlos Andino (27:27.98) and Josh Kruppa (28:59.31) also competed for the Phoenix.
On the women’s side, senior Elyse Bierut was the top Phoenix harrier in the 5K gold run. The Rocky River, Ohio, native ran a time of 17:39.79 and was 46th overall out of 260 participants. Shelby Cuddeback was next for Elon with her time of 17:56.02 in 73rd while Coralea Geraniotis followed with a time of 18:20.76. Kaitlin Snapp (18:36.99), Brigid Brennan (18:42.64), Chelsea Smith (18:56.94), Corey Weiss (19:11.66), Sabina Bains (19:14.06) and Alicia DeCastro (20:43.39) rounded out the remaining times for the maroon and gold.
The Phoenix women finished 16th overall with 493 points while the men were 24th with 611 points.
Select members of the Phoenix will compete next at the Wake Forest Invitational on Oct. 16. Other members of the squad will return to the course at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park for the NCAA Pre-Nationals the following day, Oct. 17.