Elon Cross Country’s Ciolkowski Earns Top-Three Finish at NCAA Pre-Nationals

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Sophomore Nick Ciolkowski of the Elon University men’s cross country team earned a top-three finish in the men’s 8K white race as the Phoenix cross country programs competed at the NCAA Pre-Nationals on Saturday morning, Oct. 15, at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course.

Men’s White Race Results | Women’s Blue Race Results

Ciolkowski clocked a 24:48.1 in the men’s 8K white race and was two seconds from a second-place finish in the race. The Phoenix women finished 32nd overall at the Pre-Nationals featuring some of the top nationally ranked programs in the country. Senior Kimberly Johansen was Elon’s top runner in the women’s 6K blue race with her time of 21:04.6 and was 57th overall.

“I thought Nick ran a very smart and tough race today,” said head coach Nick Polk. “It was nice for him to get some experience on the national course and he ran a really solid race. For the women, I also thought that they ran a more focused race than they did at Louisville. I believe they are headed to the right direction, but we still have some work to do before we head to conference in a couple of weeks.”

Women’s Recap
Fellow senior Shelby Cuddeback was the next runner for the Phoenix with her time 21:50.3 followed by Brigid Brennan with a 21:55.2. Coralea Geraniotis came across the finish line with a time of 22:10.5 while Melissa Anastasakis closed out the Phoenix top-five with her time of 22:23.6

Up Next
Elon is back on the course to race at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships on Oct. 29, in Newark, Del.