Golden Tigers Led the Way, In the 10K

Gainesville, GA - On July 4th the Brenau University Cross Country Team had four members participate in the Peachtree Road Race. The Peachtree Road Race is the largest 10K in the world and takes place on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, Georgia, on the 4th of July. This year, the Peachtree Race officials turned registration into a lottery system, with the exception of those who were members of the Atlanta Track Club. The race was open to 60,000 runners and in order to get a good starting position a runner had to send in an USATF Sanctioned 10K race. Several of the team members met this qualification and submitted a race time to the Peachtree Road Race, along with their application to the Peachtree.

Ana Lopera, Ashley Tolland, and Brittany Aikens all qualified to start in timed group 1A. Corey McIntyre missed registration for the Peachtree and had to get a race number from someone who was unable to run this year. Everyone was up and headed to the race, at 4:30 a.m, even though, the actual race time was not until 7:30 a.m. (but remember there were 60,000 people that participated).

The first Golden Tiger to cross the finish line was freshman Brittany Aikens in a time of 41:57. This was an incredible run for Brittany because her time gives her the opportunity to run in the sub seeded group next year. The time cut off for the sub seeded group is 41:59 and Brittany beat it by 2 seconds. Out of thousands of female runners, Brittany finished 80th and was 4th in her age group of 15-18. Coach Mac was proud of her freshman coming to the Peachtree and setting such a high goal for others on the team to strive for.

The next runner to cross the line has only been running since September 2010, and has been a very dedicated athlete since day one. Ashley Tolland did her first ever 10K in 2011, allowing her to earn a spot in the time group 1A, of the Peachtree Road Race. Ashley ran the Peachtree in a time of 48:55 and finished 84th in her age group of 19-24.

Corey McIntyre started from the 30,000 runners corral, quite a ways behind her team mates. Her actual running time didn't start until she crossed the starting line, but she had 30,000 runners a head of her to make her way through. McIntyre finished with a time of 50:56. In 2010, she finished in a time of 47:43, but started from timed group 1A. Times are affected dramatically, if you can start the race closer to the front. Basing her performance from her starting position, Corey still made good time.

Sophomore Ana Lopera just returned from Colombia on July 2nd and didn't get enough recovery time before she had to take her place at the starting line on the 4th of July. Ana finished in a time of 53:41.

The team is working very hard this summer in preparation for a strong 2011 cross country season. Keep your eye on the Golden Tigers!

Note: McIntyre is not pictured because she was still running the race.