JOHNSON CITY, Tn. - Senior Anna Hrushka becomes Lee University's first distance runner to become an All-American when she finished third in the mile run at the NAIA National Indoor Championships held at MSHA/ETSU on Saturday.
Lydia Wong, Cedarville University, was first (4:55.01) and Angela Shaw of Simon Fraser (4:58.35) placed second. Hrushka, running what coach Don Jayroe called the fastest (5:02.60) and most competitive race of her career, placed third.
"Going into the semi-final heats, Anna was up against 12 runners that owned faster times for the season than what she had run (5:12)," pointed out coach Jayroe, "but we also had seen Anna finish races with her signature kick that indicated that she could run much faster."
In the two semi-final heats of the mile, Hrushka had to run her fastest time ever (5:08) to place fourth and advance to Saturday's final. "The plan was to stay in position to be able to stay in the race and seek to finish in the top four (top six make All-American)," stressed Jayroe.
Hrushka did even better than planned. Over the last lap of 280 meters, Hrushka began accelerating, moving from the seventh spot in the race, zipping past opponents and crossing the finish line in third place.
Caleb Morgan and Maggie Opelt ran well in the mile and 5000, but failed to make it to the finals. Opelt's season's best time would have placed her sixth in the 5000. "I am very proud of the outstanding performances of Hrushka, Opelt, and Morgan. Lee has never qualified athletes to make the trip to the nationals until this season," said Jayroe.