Benway Comes in 47th at Division III NCAA National Championships

Winneconne, WI - Senior Alex Benway (Queensbury, NY) appeared to have plenty left in the tank at the Division III NCAA National Championhips for Cross Country completed Saturday afternoon, finding another gear in the last mile to finish 47th overall at the 8,000-meter Lake Breeze Golf Club Course.

Benway ran the 8-kilometer race (4.97 miles) in 24 minutes, 56.5 seconds, shaving 29 seconds off his best time in an event that lengthy. He ran the NCAA Atlantic Regionals at St. Lawrence in 25:25 last weekend.

After the first mile, Benway was a little ahead of the middle of the 279-runner pack in 129th place with a time of 4:54. He steadily improved his positioning, jumping up to 115th after two miles, 102nd after three miles, and 82nd through the fourth mile. However, it was down the stretch that Benway turned up his pace, running the last portion of the race in 4:46 while other runners were slowing down. Only 12 other runners outpaced Benway in the final portion of the race, helping the senior jump up 35 more places to come in 47th overall.

Benway's pace of 5:02 was his best this season, topping a 5:06 per mile run that he produced in a 5,000-meter event at the start of the year. The 5:02 pace is much more impressive considering the National Championships were an extra 3,000 meters.

Print Friendly Version