Aikens Makes History at the National Championships

VANCOUVER, Wash. - On Saturday, November 19th, Brittany Aikens went down in history as the first runner to compete for Brenau University at the NAIA Cross Country National Championships. The 32nd Annual Women's 5k event was held at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site at 11:45am.

The all-star freshman from Braselton, Georgia, qualified for the national meet by finishing 7th at the SSAC Conference meet, with a time of 19:22.23.

At the National Championships, Aikens finished with a time of 20:28, allowing her to place 242nd out of 323 runners. She proved to be a threat towards her competition on the course, after setting a pace of 6:35/mile

It rained for a week before the race, so trail conditions were soggy to say the least. The course included low cut grass that was made up mostly of level ground, with a few challenging hills.

"Brittany kept her focus this season and accomplished what no other Brenau cross country runner has done - qualifying for NAIA Nationals. Now that the path has been created, we hope to have others journey down this path", commented Head Coach Susan McIntyre.