Elon Track and Field Travels to Virginia Tech Challenge

ELON, N.C. – The Elon women’s track and field team will compete in its final indoor meet of the regular-season at the Virginia Tech Challenge on Friday, Feb. 15, in Blacksburg, Va. The two-day meet is slated to begin competition on Friday at 5 p.m. inside the Rector Fieldhouse.

Meet Information
Live results and schedule of events for the Virginia Tech Challenge are provided at the top of this page or by going to hokiesports.com. The first event, the women’s long jump and 600-meter run, kicks off the meet on Friday.

Last Time Out
Elon competed at the Liberty Quad last Friday, Feb. 8, winning four event titles and having members of the squad achieve new personal bests. Allyson Oram won the 3,000-meter run after setting a new meet record and an ECAC qualifying time of 10:03.88.

Sydney Griffin won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.87 and finished as the runner-up in the 200-meter dash with an ECAC qualifying mark of 25.34. Louise Prevoteau had a leap of 18’2.25” (5.54m) to take medalist honors in the long jump, while Haley Laird won the high jump after clearing the bar at 5’5.75” (1.67m).

Oram’s Record Day
Oram’s run in the 3K at Liberty was a new personal-best for the Marlborough, Mass., native, who broke the previous meet record by nearly 22 seconds. Oram just missed tying the all-time school record time of 10:03.87, set by Emily Tryon at the Penn State National on Jan. 26, earlier this season.

Tereza Novotna and Haylee Dawe joined Oram in the top-five of the 3K with times of 10:17.67 and 10:25.15, respectively.

“The girls are progressing and training really well,” said Phoenix assistant track and field and head cross country coach Christine Engel. “They were very motivated coming off the cross country season and you can see it in their performances these last couple of meets.”

Kirschling Competes at Tyson Indoor Invitational
Megan Kirschling has made an immediate impact for the Phoenix in her freshman campaign. The West Deptfort, N.J., native has received attention for her performances this season by being named the Southern Conference’s Female Indoor Field Athlete of the Week last Wednesday, Feb. 6.

Kirschling competed as an individual in the high jump at the Tyson Indoor Invitational last Saturday, Feb. 9, in Fayetteville, Ark., against some of the top athletes in the nation. Kirschling ended the day in 11th with a cleared height of 5’5.75” (1.67m).

Phoenix Rewriting the Record Books
Elon has added 15 new marks to its indoor record book this season with two meets left on its 2012-13 schedule. Seven members of the squad currently hold records on the all-time indoor performance list, including four from this season.

Charlise Morgan set the record in both the shot put and weight throw earlier in the year, while teammate Kimberlyn Holt threw the second best distance toss in the weight throw last week at the Liberty Quad. Kirschling has broken the school record in the high jump twice this season with Laird achieving the second best mark at the Wake Forest Invitational on Jan. 19. Prevoteau sits atop the pentathlon performance list after breaking her own record in the season-opening meet at the Liberty Kickoff on Dec. 1.

Prior to last week, Tryon, Novotna and Oram rewrote the top three times in the 3,000-meters at the Penn State National on Jan. 26. Oram’s performance at Liberty currently moves her into second on the all-time list.

In Competition at Virginia Tech
Sprints
Bria Bell, Griffin, Simone Jackson, Bria Turner, Jennifer Pash, Samantha Brown and Veronica Luedke will represent the maroon and gold in the sprinting events this weekend. Turner tied the second fastest mark in school history in the 60-meter dash after clocking 7.88 at the Liberty Quad.

Griffin will look to win her second straight title in the 60-meter hurdles with Prevoteau also competing for the Phoenix.

Jumps
Kirschling, Laird and Prevoteau will participate in the high jump for the Phoenix. Prevoteau will also join Marie Borowycz in the long jump event. Borowycz and Janell McNeil will compete in the triple jump for Elon.

Throws
Morgan, Holt and Kayleigh Birks will represent the Phoenix in the throwing events. Holt and Morgan will compete in both the weight throw and shot put, while Birks will only participate in the weight throw.

Up Next
The Phoenix will travel to Winston-Salem, N.C., for the SoCon Indoor Championships on Feb. 23-24 at the JDL Fast Track Complex.