The Golden Tigers Compete in Choctaw Race

CLINTON, Ms - This past weekend, the Brenau University cross country team competed in Mississippi College's Choctaw Race. The conditions were ideal, between the weather and the level of competition provided. There were fifteen women's teams participating, including: Mississippi College, Alcorn State University, University of South Alabama, and Louisiana Tech University. Fellow members of the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) were in attendance, such as: Belhaven University, William Carey University, University of Mobile, and Loyola University.

Brenau finished 10th out of 15 teams. When compared to their conference opponents, the Golden Tigers placed 2nd (behind Loyola).

Freshman Brittany Aikens (Braselton, GA) held her own, while running against several NCAA contenders. Out of 110 runners, Aikens was able to finish 11th, among a group of runners from South Alabama, Mississippi State, and Birmingham-Southern. With a time of 19:25, she managed to out run all other athletes in the SSAC. Furthermore, Aikens broke Audra Cochran's school record of 19:59, which was set last year at conference.

Ana Lopera (Flowery Branch, GA) took great pride in her performance, as she brought her time down to 21:50. Ashley Tolland (Cumming, GA) demonstrated consistency, as she stayed strong with a time of 22:37. Newcomers, Anahi Ruiz (Gainesville, GA) and Nelli Martirosyan (Yerevan, Armenia) had a successful weekend. Ruiz finished the race in 23:37, while Martirosyan set a personal record of 24:49.

Head Coach Susan McIntyre stated "We have two more weeks of serious training and hopefully our athletes will be able to set new personal records. If Brittany stays healthy for the remainder of the season, she will have a great shot of being the first Brenau runner to go to Nationals. It's a very exciting time for the cross country team last year, Audra missed going to Nationals by just a couple of places."