ELON, N.C. – Few current Elon athletes are as decorated in their sport as
Leandra Lorenz. A star on the women's cross country and track and field teams, the redshirt senior has been unable to add to her impressive resume this fall – until recently.
Due to injuries, Lorenz, an All-CAA runner for cross country each of the last three seasons, did not compete in any of Elon's first four events this fall. While her absence has not slowed down the maroon and gold, who have already taken home two victories in 2023, Lorenz was itching for a return to the course.
On Oct. 13, Lorenz made her long awaited return at one of the sport's most prestigious events: the Nuttycombe Invitational. Lorenz and six other Elon runners had the chance to compete against several of the nation's top teams and a field with over 200 of the country's best runners.
"It was just like a runner's dream," Lorenz said. "When we got there, it was like, oh my god, we see these runners always at nationals and all the big teams from all over the country."
Prior to the Nuttycombe, Lorenz last ran a competitive race in May during Elon's outdoor track season. That race was 1,500 meters in length, much shorter than the Nuttycombe's 6K.
Although Lorenz has been unable to run much in recent weeks, she was not rusty. With a time of 21:20.9 on a rain-soaked course, Lorenz was Elon's third highest finisher.
"The first kilometer was just like running in a huge body of bodies and making sure you don't fall or don't go out too fast," Lorenz said. "After that, I tried to settle in, which I think I did pretty well. Mid-race is definitely the part of the race I want to work on to get a little bit better because that's where it starts to hurt, where the cross country grind starts."
With such a large and competitive field, Lorenz said there were tight packs throughout the field during the entire race.
"[It was] a little bit intimidating because every time you slowed down a little bit, like 10 runners would go past you," Lorenz said. "At the same time, you could also pass a lot of people. The finishing stretch was a 300-meter uphill and there were so many runners finishing at the same time. Before me, behind me, next to me, probably 50 runners finished at the same time as I did."
On Friday, Lorenz and the rest of the Elon's women's cross country team will go for its fifth straight CAA team title, which would tie for the second-longest streak in conference history. Lorenz is excited to be running competitively again and is ready to help the Phoenix to another championship.
"It's not getting easier. Our conference is getting stronger and stronger," Lorenz said. "I'm super excited to compete for my fifth time with Elon for a cross-country title. We're all super hyped and we always have good vibes when we go to that meet. It matters a lot to score for the team and every point matters."
'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.
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