TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian University sophomore distance runner Tara Smurla has been honored as the Landmark Conference Women's Track Athlete of the Week for her performance last week.

Smurla broke both the Moravian and Landmark Conference record in the 10,000-meter run at the Bucknell University Bison Outdoor Classic with an AARTFC qualifying time of 36:08.51 in the Invitational race late Saturday night to finish in 17th place. Smurla took just over 11 seconds off the Greyhounds' mark set in 2002 and over 30 seconds off the Landmark Conference record set in 2011. The time was a PR for Smurla by nearly two and a half minutes.

"We spoke before the race about how we had a wide range of expectations, so we set a number of tiered goals, with the main strategy being not to go faster than that "A goal" prior to the 5k mark," commented Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "She was about 2-3 seconds faster/400m on every lap and even made a decisive move around 5k earlier than we would have preferred, so Tara didn't really follow the plan, but we're all ecstatic she didn't!

"We knew she had the potential to run sub-37:00 based on recent workouts and her 5k races over the past month, but it's still another thing to see it actually come together on the day," Baumann continued. "In the end, in only her 4th ever 10k, she knocked 2:30 off her PR, 30 seconds off the conference record, and 11 seconds off Moravian Hall of Famer Emily Shertzer's school record. As of 40 days ago, her 5k split on Saturday would have been her lifetime best. You shouldn't be able to do all of this all at once. It was truly a remarkable race and was unquestionably one of the three best races of her life, if not the best. Most importantly, it validates some lofty goals she has moving forward."

The Hounds are slated to return to action on Friday and Saturday, April 19-20 as the squad hosts the annual Coach Pollard Invitational at Timothy Breidegam Track with action beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Friday and 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.