Two Elon University pairs of running shoes crossed the grassy finish line in record-breaking times at the Adidas Cross Country Challenge on Friday, Sept. 19 at WakeMed Soccer Park. Elon unior Elyse Bierut and senior Luis Vargas put their names in the books when they each set records in the women’s and men’s 5K races.

Bierut set an Elon school record in the women’s 5K race, crossing the finish line at 17:25, a 25-second improvement from her previous best and five seconds faster than 2014 graduate Allyson Oram’s previous school record. Beirut led the pack but was closely followed by five other Phoenix runners that all finished under 18 minutes. The women’s team came in second in the team standings, just behind defending champion and host North Carolina State University by a margin of 21-36.

Vargas set a new course record, coming in at 14:29 andbreaking former NC State All-American Ryan Hill’s previous record. This marks the second straight first-place finish for Vargas and the third overall of his career. Vargas also led the Elon men to a second overall finish behind NC State by a score of 20-60.

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The next Phoenix runner on the men’s side to cross the finish line was senior Ari Rothschild, who came in at 15:22.5 for an 11th place finish. Senior Adam Bernstein came in 16th with his time of 15:39.8 and freshman Sam Geha was close behind at 15:49.2, finishing 19th overall.

On the women’s side, Elon senior Jenny Gallagher also set a new personal record, coming in a few strides behind Bierut at 17:27 with a fifth place finish along with fellow senior Tereza Novotna, who had a personal-best time of 17:38. Three other Phoenix runners finished under the 18-minute mark. Haylee Dawe ran a 17:51.5, putting her at 10th in the standings; Emily Dunne finished 11th with a time of 17:53.4, which was also a personal record; and Kaitlin Snapp came in 12th with a 17:56.8 finish.

Elon will be out on the course for its next race on Oct. 3 when the teams travel to the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind.