Brenau Strides for Success

MACON, Ga - The cross country team competed in the 2011 Mercer RunFit Sports Invitational Cross Country Meet, this Saturday. With the weather conditions perfect for a race, all the runners were raring to go.

The Golden Tigers placed 7th out of 11 teams. Some of the bigger schools that participated included: Savannah College, Mercer University, SCAD, Darton College, Clark Atlanta University, and Young Harris. A conference rival was also there, finishing behind them; Truett McConnell placed 8th at the meet.

Freshmen stand-out, Brittany Aikens (Brasselton, GA) led the team for the second week in a row, as she placed 7th with at time of 20:12. Ana Lopera (Flowery Branch, GA) finished 29th in the meet, at 22:10, with Ashley Tolland (Cumming, GA) right on her heels. Tolland recorded a personal best, with a time of 22:11. Freshman Anahi Ruiz (Gainesville, GA) proved to be consistent, at improving her times; she brought her time down to 23:15. Nelli Martirosyan (Yerevan, Armenia) demonstrated a great amount of effort, as she lowered her time by over a minute from last week's race.

"Since I have coached at Brenau (for 6 years), I can honestly say that this is the hardest working team of girls I have ever worked with. These athletes truly desire to be the best they can be, and make a genuine effort. Every day they give 100% at practice and share their personal running experiences with each otherwe are young, but wise," said Coach Susan McIntyre.

The Brenau University cross country team will compete next at the Southern Wesleyan Warriors Invitational on September 24th.