Bierut looks to guide Phoenix deeper into championship season
Jordan Spritzer
Senior Reporter
For decades, conventional wisdom sug
gested college was a time for young men and
women to mature. It was an opportunity to
get their feet wet in the real world and the
ability to go out on their own. But according
to head cross country coach Christine Engel,
it was sophomore Elyse Bierut s maturity
that brought her to Elon.
“Her maturity was one of the reasons
I recruited her,” she said. “I saw that from
our first meeting in her junior year of high
school. Her workout routine and discipfine
was evident. I knew there was something
special about her back then.”
Once Bierut got on campus, she contin
ued to grow.
“She brought that maturity to another
level once she stepped foot at Elon,” Engel
said.
Biemt herself did not acknowledge much
about her discipfine other than having goals
and looking to achieve them any way pos
sible.
“The goal is always to get better and to
improve,” Bierut said. “I’ve been working
really [hard] with my coaches, focusing on
the little things to do what I need to do at
practice on a daily basis.”
In her first competitive collegiate race,
Bierut and then-junior Allyson Oram won
the combined 5,000 meter event to place first
overall at the Demon Deacon Quad and help
the women’s team to a first-place finish in the
2012 season’s first event. The pair combined
for an impressive time of 37:28.
Biemt also put herself in the Elon record
book by mnning the second fastest 6K at
the NCAA Pre-Nationals and the third-
fastest 6K two weeks later at the Southern
Conference Championships. Her eighth-
place finish overall earned Biemt a spot on
the Second Team aU-Conference.
Despite Biemt’s success, her thrill was
short-lived as the Phoenix lost out on the
overall conference championship by just four
points. Now, Biemt and the rest of the
Phoenix are looking for a shot at redemption.
“Missing out on the conference cham
pionship has made us hungry to come back
stronger and finish stronger this year,” Biemt
said.
Engel knows how much it stung the team
to lose by such a close margin, but she said
it will also help them get back in the chase
in 2013.
“Any time you come that close to a cham
pionship, you want to be back in the hunt
again,” Engel said.
For Biemt, she returns to a familiar envi
ronment as she comes back for her second
season with the team.
“It’s nice to come back in as a sophomore
having that experience of my first collegiate
season under my belt,” she said.
Thanks to her teammates, Biemt said
she will not be getting too comfortable this
season.
“Complacency is not an issue,” Biemt
said. “It’s easy to stay motivated. We have a
highly motivated group of girls and coach
[Engel] is very motivated. We say, ‘Every day
is another day to get better,’ and we go in
with that mindset every day-”
Engel acknowledged it will be a highly
contested race to determine the conference
champions. But she feels the team is already
showing signs of what it takes to come out
on top.
“It’s going to be extremely competitive
with Furman, App State and UNCG looking
strong,” Engel said. “But the girls have really
done their homework over the summer and
have come back very fit.”
Even after an impressive start to her
Phoenix cross country career and an extreme
ly difficult conference competition on the
horizon, nerves are not getting to Biemt. She
admits worrying is not a problem for her.
“Coach Engel does the worrying, so I
don’t have to,” she said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ELON ATHLETICS
Demon Deacon Quad
Aug. 30, All day — Winston-Salem, N.C
Charlotte Invitational
Sept. 14, TBD — Charlotte, N.C
Blue Ridge Open
Oct. 17, TBD — Boone, N.C.
NCAA Pre-National
Oct. 19, TBD - Terra Haute, Ind.
Southern Conference
Championships
Nov. 2, TBD — Birmingham, Ala.
NC State Three Stripe Invitational
Nov. 9, TBD - Raleigh, N.C. '
NCAA Southeast Regional
Championships
Nov. 15, TBD — Charlottesville, Va.