SoCon Student-Athlete Spotlight

 

 

 

 

Name	Anna Mae Flynn	Caitlin Beeler
Year	Junior	Junior
Sport	Cross Country	Cross Country
Major	Education	Business Administration
Hometown	Banner Elk, NC	Cary, NC

 

 

In today’s modern world running is considered a great form of exercise and relaxation.  It is looked at as a social gathering when you can talk about the comings-and-goings of the day.  It is looked at as competitive and a way to better your own achievements.  Anna Mae Flynn and Caitlin Beeler are two cross country runners from Elon who personify running and are the featured student athletes in the first edition of the SoCon Spotlight.

 

 

 

Anne Mae Flynn

 

Anna Mae Flynn, a junior education major, from Banner Elk, N.C. and Caitlin Beeler, a sophomore business administration major, from Cary, N.C. have a lot in common.  They are interchangeable when it comes to who is the No.1 runner and who is No. 2.  They were both honored as Southern Conference freshmen of the year, Flynn in 2005 and Beeler in 2006.  They are teammates on Elon’s women’s cross country team and that is where we get to know them best.

 

Rituals are all over sports, when a player rubs dirt on their hands before every bat or a basketball player dribbles the ball three times before taking a free-throw.  Cross country is no exception.  Flynn and Beeler have rituals before every race that help them get ready to perform.  Flynn likes to say a quick prayer, then calm herself by meditating to relax her heart-rate while Beeler listens to her Ipod to relax her nervousness.  As a team they do a quick run out and stride, say a few words of encouragement and then are ready to run. 

 

When asked what do you enjoy most about cross country they had very quick answers.  Beeler enjoys the competition that comes with every practice and race, while Flynn enjoys being around her teammates.  They both enjoy running and they enjoy the social aspect that comes with the sport Flynn and Beeler both remarked about the pasta parties that coach Jackie Sgambati has before meets with both the men’s and women’s team, saying they enjoyed getting to interact with their teammates in a social setting.

 

 

Like any sport or contest, strategy plays a part in the outcome.  Flynn and Beeler have similar but different strategies.  Anna likes to go out at a comfortable pace, not as fast as she can, but enough to where she isn’t too far behind and then build her race from there.  Caitlin likes to go out fast and gain position on the other runners so she can be in good position at the end.  They possess a fear of losing and that fear drives them to try their hardest and do their best whether in competition or practice.

 

The Phoenix, Elon’s mascot, is a mythical bird that has incredible powers and recreates itself from its own ashes.  It is invincible and immortal and can heal itself when wounded.  They both said there were times when they were in pain during a hard work out and wanted to quit and had up and downs in the season but somehow pulled it together and recreated themselves just like the Phoenix. They also mentioned times when they did feel immortal and invincible like they could run forever or could beat anyone.

 

After graduation and their cross country careers are over at Elon, both will continue running.  Flynn said that she would continue to run for exercise.  Beeler said she would run on the weekends and maybe do some coaching if that opportunity came around. 

 

 

 

Anna Mae Flynn

 

Off-days are important for athletics especially if athletes are injured or just need some time off.  I asked Flynn and Beeler what they would do if they weren’t at a meet or practicing and both mentioned that they would be outdoors.  Flynn would enjoy a nice swim in a lake or rock climbing.  Beeler said she would visit with her family, catch up on schoolwork and travel if she had some time off from cross country.

 

What classes do they enjoy the most?  Beeler said business communication and science classes while Anna Mae said math because it is challenging.  We also discussed plans for vacationing for spring break.  Beeler said she would like to travel abroad, while Flynn said she would like to be on a beach for spring break.  They will be keeping up with their training while on spring break how ever far away it might be.  If you want to get them singing at Karaoke night just put on “Love Shack” by the B-52s and Flynn will sing her heart out and if you want Beeler to use her vocal cords play “It’s All Coming Back To Me” by Celine Dion.    

 

Everyone has been waiting to hear what are the CDs in your CD player and what DVDs are in your DVD Player.  Beeler has a mix CD in her CD player that was given to her by the seniors on the Elon women’s cross country

team.  Flynn has that same CD mix as well as Ooh-Ahh by Grits.  Beeler is an action junky, so any type of action movie could be found in her DVD player at any time

Elon’s cross country future looks bright with these two student-athletes leading the Phoenix.  Beller and Flynn will be competing in the up coming Southern Conference Championship that is being held at Western Carolina University on October 27.