SACRAMENTO, CA – Sophomore Rachel Strayer (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) took 101st-place out of 261 participants at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships women's 6k, setting a lifetime best time of 21:39.6.
"I gave my all and was pleased with a personal record to end the season" Strayer said. "I think this experience will help me going forward because I know now what I can achieve at a national level and it gives me motivation to keep getting better."
"She did exactly what we asked," Carson-Newman acting cross country coach Luke Greer said. "It's a personal record, a lifetime best which is what we were looking for. We hope this is the first Nationals of many."
The experience highlighted how the underclassman can improve in hopes of returning to the National Championships next November in Evansville, Indiana.
"If you look at her change of position, she was moving up, moving up, moving up," Greer said. "In the last couple of kilometers, she started to drop and that was an advantage for some of the older, more experienced girls she went against."
Strayer also noted that she wants to work on her "kick" going forward, which is a runner's ability to sprint at the tail end of a longer endurance race.
"I am looking to work on my strength and endurance for next year so that I can be an All-American and place top-five in my region," Strayer said.
"She said it herself, it's probably her kick where she needs the most work," Greer said, "She needs to work on her strength, she knows that now and that's something that she will improve upon going forward."
It was Strayer's first time attending the event as she became the first individual female C-N runner to be selected to attend since Aubrey Morris in 2008.
Strayer was one of just 25 sophomores at an event that also consisted of 55 juniors and 57 seniors.
"Just being around these runners is great experience for her and I think she learned a lot," Greer said. "She's learning in huge waves and did it against some of the best."
The race took place at the Arcade Creek Cross Country Course which twists and turns through the center of a golf course. It was 68 degrees and sunny in Sac Town for the event.
"There were so many people cheering the whole time and so many great runners beside me," Strayer said.
"It's a beautiful course, it's flat and it's fast," Greer said. "The weather was perfect. It was a great course to run on. The race was really, really fast and a pleasure to watch."
Returning to next year's National Championships isn't the only goal Strayer has set for next season.
"She had a great season, I think she can take a lot of confidence from this season," Greer said. "I know her big goal is to get to 17 minutes in the 5k. We're just looking forward to her using the confidence going into next season."
Strayer is also a member of the C-N track and field team, the first event for which is December 6th at the Bast-Cregger Invitational at Roanoke College in Salem, Va. Strayer is undecided as to whether or not she will make such a quick turnaround to the first event.
Strayer was the only Eagle at the event and therefore the team didn't have a chance to win the event as a whole. The winning program was Adams State who was led by first-place finisher Stephanie Cotter.
South Atlantic Conference rival Queens placed 17th at the event and was the best finisher out of the conference.
Despite this being the conclusion of the C-N cross country campaign, be sure to follow Strayer's 2019-2020 track and field season on cneagles.com and on Twitter @CNathletics.
