Smith, Pavicic Crowned 2022 Collegiate 10K Road Race Champions
Richmond welcomed nearly 1,000 college students for 10K Championships
View as .pdf: RESULTS
April 23, 2022 - RICHMOND, VA – The Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10K returned to its regular format for the first time since 2019, and hosted our 2022 Collegiate 10K Road Race National Championships. Peri Pavicic (George Washington University) and Brody Smith (Syracuse University) claimed the titles on a beautiful morning in Richmond, Virginia.
Beginner’s luck was in the air as the men and women’s winners were first-time Monument Avenue 10k/Collegiate 10K Road Race Championships participants. George Washington University student Peri Pavicic finished in 35:13 in her second-ever 10K and her first time ever running a road race to claim the title and the $1,000 first place prize as the top collegian.
“This is my first-ever road race,” Pavicic said. “It was awesome and I definitely want to come back.”
Former Syracuse men’s cross country runner and current graduate assistant Brody Smith marked his first visit to Richmond with a win, finishing in 30:00 and claim the $1,000 prize for the top college student. He outpaced runner-up Peter Borger (University of Richmond) by 21 seconds and becomes the second Syracuse graduate to win the race after Philo Germano won in 2019.
“I went out hard in the first mile and got myself a pretty decent gap,” Smith said. “That gap just kinda maintained the whole way.”
The Collegiate Running Association runs its national championship 10k road race as part of the Monument Avenue event and awards $3,500 in cash prizes to the top three male and female finishers who currently are enrolled in at least one college class.
Smith said the fans that lined Monument Avenue gave him extra motivation. The $1,000 first-place cash prize, to, which he plans to use to continue competing in races across the country.
“The fans were fantastic,” Smith said. “I was engaging with them and they were keeping me up. I do well with that kind of energy.”
Smith entered the final blocks of the race with enough of a gap to comfortably run to the sides of the course and high-five fans before the finish.
“I don’t think this will be my last time doing Ukrop’s,” Smith said. “This was a lot of fun, the crowd was incredible and I really enjoyed it.”
Richmond-area university runners were well represented on the men’s and women’s side. Of the 10 collegiate men’s winners, six were from the University of Richmond and one was from VCU. On the women’s side, five of the top 10 finishers attend the University of Richmond.
The runner-up on the men’s side, Borger is a standout cross country runner at the University of Richmond. This was his second 10k in as many days after finishing fifth in the 10,000-meter event at the Virginia Invitational hosted by UVA yesterday.
It was the senior’s first attempt at the Monument Avenue 10k. Borger said he was motivated to finish with a good time after a subpar performance in Charlottesville.
“I probably would have been a little more fresh if I didn’t run yesterday,” he said. “I’m happy with the performance given how I was feeling going into the race.”
The women’s the runner-up for the CRA National Championship, was the winner of the 2018 and 2019 races, Bethany Sachtleben (NOVA). The 3-time Collegiate Running Association Female Athlete of the Year, finished in 36:23.
Pavicic said she had wished she started the race less aggressively, despite getting out to a 6-second advantage at the 5k mark that she maintained to the finish line.
“This was my first time ever doing this, so I really didn’t know what to expect,” she said.
Like Smith, Pavicic credited fans with providing a needed boost.
“The cheering never stopped and that definitely helped me,” she said. “When I was hurting, everyone was yelling.”
“The women’s field was great up front this year,” said Collegiate Running Association co-founder Jon Molz. “Peri Pavicic ran a great race. To win this event in her first ever road race it impressive. We are also thrilled that Bethany Sachtleben keeps coming back to Richmond to compete in our city’s showcase races.”
“We are so excited to be back on the streets of Richmond after the two year COVID interruption," said Collegiate Running Association co-founder, Steve Taylor. "Brody (Smith) ran a great race. He took it from early in the race and kept the pace high over the opening 5K. Peter (Borger) was pushing hard over the final 2 miles and looked great. One of the most exciting things about this event is getting to support the college students and following their careers after college. We are excited to see where the men and women that competed so hard today end up in the rest of their careers. One of our favorite parts about putting on these events is that many of these runners continue on to do amazing things at national and international levels down the road, and many of them gain invaluable experience at this race to prepare them for the future.”
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