WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's duo of Elisabeth Olson (Wilmington, Mass.) and Shaylee Puleo (Tewksbury, Mass.) earned the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) runner and rookie of the week awards, respectively, after helping their team win the Jim Sheehan Invitational this past Saturday.
Olson broke her personal course record by eight seconds in scoring the top spot for Worcester State (2nd place, 20:29.27).
Head coach Gary Jusseaume commented, "Despite training concerns over the summer, Elisabeth came to preseason ready to work. I'm pleased with her training session the last two weeks. Collegiate meet experience garnered last year, couple more with physical strength as a sophomore has given her more personal confidence. I anticipate more personal course records this season."
In her first collegiate meet, Puleo came in sixth at the meet in a time of 21:20.67.
"Shaylee may be a freshman, but she ran her initial collegiate race with a level of determination I'd expect from a seasoned veteran," said Jusseaume. Her running form and race awareness was outstanding. She wasn't deterred by the hills, and instinctively pushed herself throughout the race."
This upcoming weekend, the team travels to Biddeford, Maine to take part in the University of New England Invitational.