Ryen Frazier bucked familial history when she signed with North Carolina state of her sister and Duke — Twitter
You’ll have to look quick to catch Ryen Frazier. If you don’t she’ll be too busy off breaking another North Carolina state record.
The Ravenscroft senior has accomplished a pair of truly sensational marks in a single week, first setting a new state record for fastest 5-kilometer cross country run, then topping the North Carolina mark for fastest indoor mile just days later. As reported by the News & Observer, Frazier became the first North Carolina girl to complete the 5K cross country course in less than 18 minutes when she crossed the line at 16:44.27. Her new record-setting time in the mile was 4:44.20.
More intriguing is precisely who Frazier is nabbing these records from: since 2009, both marks have been held by Frazier’s older sister, Wesley.
“It feels good to run fast,” Ryen Frazier told the News & Observer. “I knew about the records growing up, and I knew they were solid records, but I thought I might possibly, although not definitely, have a chance of beating one.
“After I got the first one, I was really confident. At the indoor meet, I knew Wesley’s record, and I wanted to get it.”
The older Frazier also matriculated to an ACC school in North Carolina, but for once, wasn’t able to influence Ryen to follow her lead; Wesley runs for the Duke cross country team while Ryen has signed on to run for North Carolina State.
Of course, that budding intra-familial collegiate rivalry can wait. For now Ryen Frazier has a lot more running to do, whether she can set new records or not.