Elon Cross Country Phoenix Ready for Wake Forest Invitational

ELON, N.C. – In their final regular-season meet before the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Championships, the Elon University men’s and women’s cross country teams will compete at the Wake Forest Invitational on Friday, Oct. 16, on the course at the Ivey M. Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville, N.C.

The races will begin with the men’s 8K run at 4:30 p.m. followed by the women’s 5K race at 5:15 p.m.

About the Wake Forest Invitational
The meet will also feature competition from Appalachian State, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Davidson, East Carolina, East Tennessee State, Furman, George Mason, High Point, North Carolina Central, North Carolina State, Radford, Richmond, Shaw, UNC Asheville, UNC Charlotte, UNC Wilmington, USC Upstate, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Tech, Western Carolina, Wingate and Winston-Salem State.

Last Time Out
The Phoenix last competed at the prestigious Greater Louisville Classic on Saturday, Oct. 3. Rookie Nick Ciolkowski clocked in the third-best performance in school history in the men’s 8K after running 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.

On the women’s side, senior Elyse Bierut was the top runner to cross the finish line for Elon in the women’s 5K gold run. Bierut clocked in a time of 17:39.79 and was 46th overall out of 260 participants.

About Elon
Bierut was named the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week on Tuesday, Sept. 22. The Rocky River, Ohio, native was 13th overall in the women’s 5K race and clocked in a time of 17:30.8 – just five seconds from her own school-record. It was the second CAA weekly honor for Bierut in her career and her third conference weekly award overall.

Junior Shelby Cuddeback has had a strong start to her junior season with a 16th-place finish at the adidas XC Challenge on Sept. 18. The Attleboro, Mass., native set a new personal-best in the 5K race with a time of 17:36.5, the fourth-best performance in school history.

The Phoenix has been receiving strong contributions from its first-year class. Ciolkowski was third overall at the Phoenix Invitational with a time of 26:10 and was named the CAA Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week on Sept. 8. The Fairport, N.Y., native earned the win in his collegiate debut, the Phoenix Open, with a time of 18:33 in the 5K race and became just the fifth runner in program history to earn individualist’s honors in a race.

Up Next
After a week off, the Phoenix squads travel to Mt. Pleasant, S.C., for the 2015 CAA Cross Country Championships on Oct. 31.