VANCOUVER, Wash. -- Sophomore Allika Pearson finished strong as she ran her way to a 57th place finish in a field of 340 runners at the NAIA National Championships meet on Friday, Nov. 22, at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.
Turning in an official time of 19 minutes, 4 seconds, Pearson improved by six seconds from last year's finish, but saw major changes in her final placement.
Last year, the Siloam Springs native's time of 19:10 landed her 154th place overall. This time, her 57th place finish placed her in the meet's top 17 percent of participants.
Pearson jetted off and finished the first kilometer in 3:33, but dealt with being boxed in and sat at 150th. Over the next two kilometers, however, she would improve by 57 spots to take 93rd. The fourth kilometer saw Pearson advance another 20 places into 73rd, before one final push.
The last kilometer was Pearson's best since the opening kilometer as she posted a 3:48 mark to improve another 16 places to finish in 57th overall.
Madonna (Mich.) captured its first-ever Red Banner with a team time of 1:32:56, while Huntington's (Ind.) Hannah Stoffel crossed the line at 17:18 to capture the individual title.
Sports on 12/01/2019