Asbury sophomore Carolina Trumpower led the men’s and women’s cross country teams at the NCCAA national championship, placing 5th overall with a personal best of 18:38 for 5 kilometers. This earned her All-American honors and the title of second fastest runner in Asbury history.
The teams put up one of their best days, with 12 of the 14 runners having new personal bests. After just falling short of qualifying last year, they aimed to give it their best effort this year, doing just that.
“All of us got our season best records for the year, and most of us ran the best races that we’d ever run,” said sophomore Lucy Bryson. “We have it all we had in practice and the race, and we performed pretty well. There were lots of happy tears at the finish.”
Trumpower agreed. “Mentally and physically, we were all ready to run to the best of our abilities and glorify the Lord,” she said.
“I am still in shock about my race!” Trumpower said. “The Lord was so good to me in ways that surpassed all I could have ever asked for or imagined! I have not broken a personal record since freshman year of high school, so God truly carried me across a mental and physical threshold that day.”
Nationals was a success for many of the runners, including Bryson, who shaved 30 seconds off her personal best with a time of 22:39.
“Finally, being able to get back to where I used to be feels so good after having some rocky seasons in the past. I was motivated by the people I loved wanting to see the best in me and I did it for them,” Bryson said.
She intends to take the momentum from this race to push her forward and into her next few seasons with this team.
“I want the race I ran on Saturday to be just a normal thing next year,” Bryson said. “I’m so blessed to have been able to experience what I did this weekend and can’t wait to keep growing with this team. We’ll be back next year for sure.”
The men’s team put up some impressive times, with sophomore Wesley Preston leading the pack with a 26:47 for 8 kilometers.
“It felt incredible to run 26:46. It was so much fun. I love this sport. Chasing people down through the woods, over hills, and in the mud is truly exhilarating,” Preston said.
The men ended up placing sixth overall amidst some steep competition but put up some great times.
“I think we did fantastic,” Preston said. “To have a team average of 28:12 — that is a 5:38 per mile for 5 miles — was truly a huge achievement. I don’t think people understand how much talent and hard work that takes.”
After coming just short of making All-American and breaking the top ten in Asbury history, Preston is using that to push him going forward.
“This will impact me going forward because it is more motivation to keep improving,” Preston said. “I want to win. I love to compete and put it all on the line with the fellas. I want to break a school record too.”
