March 14- Salem College’s Rachel Fichthorn took the challenge of the Charlotte Half-Marathon Saturday morning. With the weather a nice 50 degrees and partly sunny, Fichthorn started the race conservatively and pasted the 5-mile marker in 19th place. After mile eight, Fichthorn broke away from a pack of runners and went on to finish 14th overall out of 622 women. Fichthorn’s time of 1:38:29 was good enough to place 3rd in the 20-24 age category. For the 13.1 mile race, Fichthorn averaged 7:31 per mile.

Fichthorn is the team captain of the Salem College Cross Country Team and was the #1 NCAA Division III cross country harrier in the state of North Carolina in 2006. Currently in her sophomore year, Fichthorn is majoring in Psychology at Salem College, a small liberal arts college nestled in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.