Elon Track And Field Phoenix to Kickoff Outdoor Season at UNC Wilmington Seahawk Invitational

ELON, N.C. – Led by a pair of returning outdoor conference champions and eight other All-Southern Conference performers, the Elon University track and field team gears up for the 2014 outdoor campaign with its first meet of the year at the UNC Wilmington Seahawk Invitational this weekend, March 14-15.

The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 14, with the hammer throw events while the first running event, the women’s 5,000-meters, is slated for a 5 p.m. start. The meet will conclude on Saturday, March 15, with the remaining field events starting at 10 a.m. and running events beginning at noon.

Indoor Championship Recap
Elon finished fifth at the 2014 Southern Conference Indoor Championships on March 1-2, tallying 88 points, the highest point total ever for the program at the league indoor meet. The Phoenix had several standout performers, none other than conference champions Sydney Griffin (60-meter hurdles) and Allyson Oram (3,000-meters).

Griffin won her second consecutive title in the 60-meter hurdles after clocking an 8.60 in the finals. Prior to that performance, she tied her own school-record in the event with a mark of 8.56 in the preliminaries. Griffin was also the Phoenix’s top runner in the 200-meters with a time of 25.17 to finish sixth.

Oram captured the 3,000-meters title with a new school-record of 9:34.97 – breaking her previous personal indoor best by nearly seven seconds. It was the first SoCon indoor individual championship for the Marlborough, Mass., native. Oram also received All-SoCon honors after she finished as the runner-up in the 5,000-meter race with a new school-record time of 16:53.28.

Along with Griffin and Oram, Charlise Morgan (shot put), Tereza Novotna (one-mile), Bria Bell (400-meters) and the women’s 4×400-meter relay team also received All-SoCon honors. Elyse Bierut (3,000 and 5,000-meters), Carrie Abraham (long jump and high jump) and Bréanna Warren (shot put) earned spots on the league’s All-Freshmen team.

Top Outdoor Returners
The Phoenix returns eight outdoor All-SoCon performers from last year, including conference champion throwers Kimberlyn Holt and Suzanne Martin. Holt took the hammer throw crown after setting a school-record with a toss of 174’4 (53.45m) at last year’s SoCon Outdoor Championships

Martin, a junior from Hummelstown, Pa., won the javelin throw after a heave of 137’4″ (41.85m), breaking her own school-record in the event at the league championships.

Last season, the Phoenix swept the podium in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, the first time that Elon has taken the top three spots in any event. Novotna is Phoenix’s lone returner from the race after finishing as the runner-up a year ago with a time of 10:42.95 and receiving All-SoCon accolades.

Also earning All-SoCon honors a year ago were Griffin (100-meter hurdles), Oram (5,000-meters), Megan Kirschling (high jump), Veronica Luedke (400-meters) and Morgan (shot put). Griffin and Kirschling also made the All-Freshman team a year ago.

On Deck
The Phoenix will travel to Raleigh, N.C., to participate in the Raleigh Relays on March 28-29.