Elgin’s McElhaney wins Cameron Invitational with overwhelming performance

LAWTON – Elgin cross country runner Audrey McElhaney isn’t letting up.

The junior won the girls varsity 5K race for the third meet in a row. This time, she was No. 1 at the Cameron Invitational with a time of 19:39, which was 19 seconds better than last year’s performance at Cameron. McElhaney was more than two minutes ahead of second place finisher Ashlyn Vasquez of Newcastle.

“She ran really well last Friday,” Elgin girls cross country coach Tomi Lorah said. “She blistered what she ran last year. She just exploded and I’m pleased with what she did. I think the second place runner was about 600 meters behind her.”

Previously, McElhaney placed first at the season opening Duncan meet and was the winner of the elite division at the Carl Albert Invitational.

But Lorah knows her star runner will need to drop her time as the more difficult meets await her.

“We’re going to Edmond (Pre-State meet), and we’ll see all of those Piedmont runners and she knows she’ll have to work a little harder,” the coach said.

McElhaney currently ranks No. 5 in Class 5A and teammate Kendyl Marrero is 24th. Marrero finished fourth at the Cameron Invitational with a time of 22:29.

“Kendyl ran well too,” Lorah said. “She’s real consistent and her time will start dropping 15, 20 seconds each week as the season goes on. I look to see her drop 10 to 15 seconds at the Edmond course.”

Elgin runners will only compete against other 5A schools at the Pre-State meet.

“This will be the state course that we run on next Saturday,” Lorah said.

Elgin will also compete in the OBU Bison Challenge Thursday, Oct. 6 before hosting the Elgin Owl Classic Friday, Oct. 14.