ELON, N.C. – Elon University head cross country coach Christine Engel resigned her position to accept a position at Duke University as the head women's cross country coach, Elon Director of Athletics Dave Blank announced on August 5, 2014.
 
A national search for Engel's successor will begin immediately.
 
"Christine Engel has been an outstanding leader and mentor to our student-athletes during her time at Elon," Blank said. "Christine has helped our cross country program achieve great success both athletically and academically over the last several years and has had a tremendous impact on the student-athletes she has coached. We wish her well in all of her future endeavors."
 
Engel was named the Elon head cross country coach and assistant track and field coach in 2008. During her tenure, Elon has tallied a total of four individual conference champions, two NCAA Preliminary qualifiers and 75 all-league selections across both sports.
 
"I want to thank all the current student-athletes and alumni I have had the privilege of coaching during my time at Elon," Engel said. "I am grateful to Elon for the opportunity to work for such a great university under the leadership of Dave Blank and President Leo Lambert."
 
Last season, Engel helped the Phoenix women finish second at the Southern Conference Championship, tying the program's best finish at the league meet. Allyson Oram picked up first-team all-conference accolades for the maroon and gold, while Elyse Bierut, Tereza Novotna, Haylee Dawe and Kimberly Johansen all earned spots on the second team.
 
On the men's side, Engel helped harrier Luis Vargas have arguably the best individual season ever for a male runner in the history of the program. Vargas earned his second straight first-team All-SoCon honor after a third-place finish at the league championships. Vargas also became the first male runner to win a race in nearly eight years and the first runner in history to receive all-region honors at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships.
 
During the indoor track and field season last year, Engel guided Oram to a conference title in the 3,000-meter run with a new school-record time of 9:34.97. Along with Oram, Engel also had Novotna earn all-league honors with Bierut and Johansen earning spots on the league's All-Freshman team.
 
Engel helped Novotna capture the SoCon's 3,000-meter steeplechase title during the outdoor season and helped Elon claim the event title for the second straight season. Novotna set a new school record in the race with a time of 10:29.28 while Oram also set a new school-record in the 10,000-meters at the prestigious Stanford Invitational with a time of 34:49.59. Oram earned All-SoCon honors in the 5,000-meters and became the second distance runner under Engel to advance to the NCAA East Preliminaries. Engel also had four members of the team in Bierut (5,000m), Shelby Cuddeback (10,000m), Johansen (1,500m) and Snapp (steeplechase) earn SoCon All-Freshman team honors.
 
Engel is a 1996 graduate of Clemson University where she was a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection on the Tigers track and field team.