Kennedy Named PSUAC Cross Country Runner of the Week
Eladia Kennedy was named the PSUAC Cross Country Runner of the Week after a career setting day at the Wolfpack Invitational. She ran the 5K race in 26:58 shaving four minutes off her previous best time.
McKeesport, PA. – The Penn State University Athletic Conference released its weekly award winners on Wednesday morning crowning eight student-athletes across the commonwealth campuses as PSUAC Athletes of the Week. Penn State Greater Allegheny Cross Country Runner Eladia Kennedy (Pittsburgh, Pa./Imani Christian Academy) was named the PSUAC Female Cross-Country Runner of the Week after an impressive showing at the Wolfpack Invitational.
It was a career day for the PSUGA junior, who ran the five-kilometer race in just 26:58 finishing in 11th place out of the field of 27 runners. Competing in just her second race of the season, Kennedy shaved over four minutes off her previous time and continues to get stronger race by race.
The 2019 season is Kennedy’s first-ever running Cross Country after starting her PSUGA career as a member of the inaugural Track and Field team last season. She had a lot of success as a sprinter for PSUGA, claiming the program’s first-ever United States Collegiate Athletic Association Individual National Championship when she ran the 100-Meter Dash in 14.02 seconds. She followed up that performance with a third-place finish in the 200-Meter Dash later on in the day to take home her second medal of the event.
This season, Kennedy will be running Cross Country as well as participating in both Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field. She is training to become a mid-distance runner on the track and is hoping to build her endurance this cross country season while also competing for a second championship.
It is the first time in her career that Kennedy has been named a PSUAC Player of the Week and is the first Player of the Week award for PSUGA this season. Kennedy was twice named the USCAA Track Athlete of the Week last season being recognized for her work in the sprinting game for PSUGA.
Kennedy and the rest of the PSUGA Cross Country team will be back in action on Saturday, September 21st, when they head to the PSU-Mont Alto Invitational. The event will be held at Norlo Park in Mont Alto, PA., which will also be the sight for the 2019 PSUAC Cross Country Championships.