Perron sets personal-record at Blue Ridge Open

Senior Ben Perron’s new personal-record highlighted the Elon University cross country team’s performance at the Blue Ridge Open on Friday, Oct. 18.

Perron was the first Elon men’s runner to cross the finish line with a time of 25:15.55, which was good enough for a No. 18-overall in the 8K event. Perron’s time marked the fourth fastest time in school history.

The men’s team finished 12^th-place out of the 28 team competition behind Perron’s strong showing. Junior Ari Rothschild finishedNo. 61, second for the Phoenix, with a time of 25:56.06. Senior Nick Schneider (26:13.87), senior James Stevenson (26:45.91) and Ryan Gwaltney (26:50.91) finished No. 82, No. 113 and No. 117, respectively, for the men’s side.

Head coach Christine Engel sent out the women’s “B” team and still came out with a 13^th-place finish. Junior Jenny Gallagher finished first for the women’s side with a time of 19:08.60. Gallagher finished 34^th overall out of 216 participants. Senior Jackie Madden (19:23.82) and Sabina Baines (19:45.01) rounded out the top three for the women’s team with No. 56 and No. 72-place finishes.

Senior Brenna McDavid finished No. 84-overall with a time of 19:48.72 while Junior Kaitlin Stober (111^th, 20:13.55) and Senior Kylie Womack (128^th, 20:29.68) rounded out the women’s team.

The top seven women runners along with junior Luis Vargas will represent the Phoenix at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Ind. on Saturday, Oct. 19.