Elon Cross Country Finishes at Southeast Regional Championship; Vargas Sets a New School Record in 10K

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Elon men’s cross country runner Luis Vargas established a new school record at the Southeast Regional meet on Friday afternoon, Nov. 9. Vargas ran for a time of 31:35.37 in the men’s 10K race at the course at McAlpine Park, pacing the men to a 23rd overall finish. The women finished 16th overall, the best for program at the regional.

Vargas posted a 61st overall finish in the event out of 228 competitors and now holds the record in both the 8K and 10K performances all-time at Elon. The Angier, N.C., native, who earned the program’s first All-SoCon first team honor two weeks ago at the conference championships, ended his sophomore campaign as the men’s top runner in five meets this season.

Three other runners on the men’s side also established new personal-records in the race for the Phoenix. Ben Perron ran for a time of 32:51.33, now fifth best on the all-time list, and placed at 127th. Ari Rothschild also ran under the 33-minute mark with a time of 32:57.64, eighth-best on the performance list, and crossed the line at 131st. Adam Bernstein jumped into the top-10 list with his time of 33:06.60 and was 136th.

James Stevenson (33:48.82, 165th), Sean Martyn (34:29.13, 192nd), and Ryan Gwaltney (34:49.47, 197th) rounded out the men’s team scores for Elon.

“The men really rebounded as a team after a disappointing finish a few weeks ago at the SoCon meet,” said Phoenix head coach Christine Engel. “Most of them regrouped and ran more at their fitness level than they did two weeks ago.”

On the women’s side, Allyson Oram was the top runner for the Phoenix with a time of 21:55.27 and placing 58th overall out of 255 runners. Freshman Elyse Bierut ended her strong freshman campaign with an 82nd finish and a time of 22:14.98 in the race. Haylee Dawe ran a new personal-best with a time of 22:15.89 and was 85th. Emily Tryon was the fourth female runner to cross the line for Elon with her time of 22:28.26 and was 98th overall.

Tereza Novotna (22:40.12, 118th), Christine Pacewicz (22:41.66, 121st) and Kaitlin Snapp also competed and scored for the maroon and gold.

“We were a little disappointed on where we finished on the ladies side,” said Engel. “We were hoping to finish more of where we were ranked all season, in the top 13, but we had some great performances and set some new personal-records.”

Virginia took home the men’s team title with 64 points while Duke won the women’s race with 81. Two runners from the Bluegrass State took individual medalist honors with Eastern Kenticky’s Soufiane Bouchikhi on the men’s side and Kentucky’s Cally Macumber for the women.