VIDEO: Rachel Strayer Interview
NEW ORLEANS, La. - After earning an 18th place finish in the 6K at the 2021 NCAA DII Southeast Regional, Rachel Strayer was named All-Region for the third time in her career on Monday, Nov. 8.
The United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) awards All-Regional honors to individuals who finish their regional race inside the top 24 runners. Elligible individuals must be members of a USTFCCCA recognized school.
"This means a lot," says Rachel Strayer. "We didn't know who our coach was until a few weeks before the season and coming off a year where cross country was cancelled. We were able to grow this year and I remembered how much I loved cross country. It's definitely my favorite of the three seasons we have in cross country and track. It meant a lot to run cross country to the fullest and give it my all this final season."
Strayer has been the leader of the Carson-Newman women's cross country team during her senior season. The Murfreesboro native was the fastest women's runner for the Eagles at every race during the 2021 season.
Strayer's season started off strong at the Tusculum Open, recording a season-high third place finish in the 5K run with a time 20:09.7. It was the entire team's first cross country race in over 664 days due to the 2020 season being cancelled.
Strayer improved her time dramatically three weeks later at the Queen City invite, improving her season best time by over 90 seconds with a time of 18:28.0 and a 27th place finish in Charlotte. Two weeks later, Strayer continued her strong season with a 19th place finish in the 5K at the Asics Invitational in Georgia with a time of 18:54.6, beating out several Division One runners and helping the Eagles to a 10th place finish. The Eagles finished above Division One schools Mercer and Georgia Southern at the event.
At a rainy Royals Challenge in Charlotte, Strayer recorded her best time in the 5K of the season, finishing 33rd with a time of 18:15.1, just three seconds shy of her school record time in the event.
In the 2021 SAC Conference Championships, Strayer earned All-Conference honors for the third year in a row, finishing 19th with a time of 22:40.7 in the 6K run, ten seconds faster than her time the previous year at the event.
�� With a 19th place finish in the Women's 6K, @rachelmstrayer earns Third-Team All-SAC honors @CN_Track
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) October 23, 2021
It's the third straight year that Strayer has been named All-SAC pic.twitter.com/bGBMFxJx8A
Strayer solidified her All-Region run with an 18th place finish to end the year at the 2021 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship in Spartanburg, S.C. with a time of 22:23.0 in the 6K. Strayer was a pivotal part of a women's cross country team that finished seventh in the region, the squad's highest finish at the event in over a decade.
"My teammates are great and are all super young," says Strayer. "They have grown a lot this year from being super nervous in the first race to competing hard with the older girls. They really stepped up and continued to improve each race and listened to advice from us older racers and our coaches."
This is Strayer's third straight All-Region award. As a freshman, Strayer earned her first honor in 2018 after finishing 12th at the 2018 Southeast Regional in Oakwood, Ga. with a time of 22:56.9 in the 6K run. That time came two weeks after earning Freshman of the Year honors from the SAC after finishing sixth in her first ever SAC Championship race and her first career collegiate 6K event.
The 2019 season was an historic year for Strayer. At the SAC Championships, Strayer finished fifth overall out of 86 racers with a time of 22:50.0 in the 6k. That performance earned her a spot on the SAC's All-Conference First Team. She followed that performance up by placing sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional out of 181 participants in the 6k with a time of 22:20.6. Strayer then received an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championships, becoming the first individual female Carson-Newman runner to be selected to attend since Aubrey Morris in 2008. Strayer placed 101st-place out of 261 participants at the NCAA Cross Country National Championships women's 6k, setting new school record time of 21:39.6.
Strayer has been the lead runner for the Carson-Newman women's team at nine straight meets and at all 15 meets she has competed in. She missed the 2019 Bulldog Stampede in Wingate due to an ankle injury.
Strayer is the first Carson-Newman runner to earn three USTFCCCA All-Region awards in program history. Luke Greer earned back-to-back honors in 2017 and 2018. The USTFCCCA has been awarding All-Region honors since 2009.
"My biggest takeaway from running at Carson-Newman was that I was able to leave it all out there," says Strayer. "It goes by way too quickly. Thankully I was able to enjoy my senior year and take it all in. We got to race at Spartanburg where my first conference meet was which was nostaglic but I really enjoyed this season as a whole."
To stay up to date with the Carson-Newman track & field and cross country squads, head to cneagles.com or follow the Eagles on twitter at @cn_eagles.
