Elon’s Ahm Finishes 82nd at NCAA Women’s Cross Country Championships

STILLWATER, Okla. – Sophomore Maria Ahm of the Elon University women’s cross country team closed out her cross country season at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Monday, March 15, at the OSU Cross Country Course.

WOMEN’s RESULTS

Ahm came across the line in 82nd overall out of 253 runners in the women’s 6K. The The Holbæk, Denmark, native clocked a time of 21:23.5 in the race, making history as the first runner from the Elon women’s cross country team to compete at the national cross country meet.

“I am thrilled with Maria’s performance today,” said Phoenix head cross country coach Kevin Jermyn. “She ran with tremendous composure and toughness. She executed the race plan we discussed perfectly. I am proud of her.”

Ahm was 155th in the first 1,000-meters of the race with a split time of 3:11.9. She improved one spot at the 2,000-meter mark with her time of 6:40.6 at that point. Ahm then turned it on over the next 1,000-meters, improving 26 spots to 128th overall.

Ahm continued her trajectory into the top-100 over the next 2K as the 2020 CAA individual cross country champ looked to push for a top-40 finish and a possible All-American honor. She would eventually settle into her position at 82nd overall as she crossed the competitive finish line.

The BYU women took the team title with 96 points, followed by NC State (161), Stanford (207), Michigan State (212) and Minnesota (239) in the top five. Alabama’s Mercy Chelangat took the individual title with her time of 20:01.1.

In the men’s 10K, Northern Arizona won the team title over Notre Dame, scoring 60 points over the Fighting Irish, who tallied 87 points. Host Oklahoma State (142), Arkansas (181) and Stanford (194) rounded out the top five. BYU’s Connor Mantz took gold in the men’s 10K with a time of 29:26.1. The CAA individual men’s champion, Alex Masai of Hofstra, finish in 32nd with his time of 30:39.1.