ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s track and field travels to the campus of NC State this weekend, March 28-29, to compete at the Raleigh Relays. The meet is scheduled to kick off at 8:30 a.m. on Friday at the Paul Derr Track and Field facility.
Among 114 Division I, II and III schools will be competing this weekend with over 4,000 men and women athletes registered for the 58 scheduled events.
Live Coverage
Live results of the meet will be posted at www.flashresults.com or on NC State’s website, gopack.com. Fans can also go the Elon track and field schedule page at elonphoenix.com for live results or follow on Twitter at the handles @ElonScores or @EU_XCTF.
Last Time Out
Majority of the distance team competed at the Wake Forest Open last Friday, March 21. Senior Allyson Oram (1,500-meters) and sophomore Tereza Novotna (3,000-meter steeplechase) both led the way after winning their respective events.
Oram set a new outdoor personal-best time in the race after clocking a 4:32.89 in her first outdoor meet of the season. Freshman Kimberly Johansen also performed well in the race, finishing third overall with a time of 4:34.
Novotna captured the steeplechase crown after she set a new personal-best in the event with a time of 10:41.41.
The Phoenix also had a strong performance from senior Jackie Madden in the 400-meters as she turned in a time of 58.84. Senior Kimberlyn Holt was the lone representative for the Phoenix throwers at Wake Forest, competing in the hammer throw and finished with a toss of 47.99m.
In Competition at Raleigh Relays
In sprints, Elon will have the duo of Simone Jackson and Bria Turner competing in the 100-meter dash. Jackson clocked in the second fastest time in school history in the 100-meters at the UNC Wilmington Invitational on March 14, with a time of 12.32.
Madden, Bria Bell, Ellie Taff and Jennifer Pash will represent the maroon and gold in 400-meter dash. The 4×400-meter relay team of Bell, Pash, Veronica Luedke and Jennifer Esposito will look to build off a strong second-place performance at Wilmington as they clocked in a time of 3:52.51.
Esposito and Sydney Griffin headline the hurdle events for Elon. Esposito won the 400-meters at Wilmington with a time of 1:01.38, the second-fastest performance in school history. She was later named the Southern Conference’s Track Athlete of the Week on March 19. Griffin took home individualist honors in the 100-meter hurdles with a time 14.23 at the UNCW Invite.
Closing out the sprints will be the 4×100-meter relay team of Jackson, Pash, Bell and Griffin.
The Phoenix field events members set new a few personal and school records at Wilmington. Sophomore Megan Kirschling broke her own school-record in the high jump with a mark of 5’8.75” (1.75m) and was second overall. She and Haley Laird will compete this weekend for Elon in the event.
Freshmen Carrie Abraham and Jayna Coyle will represent the Phoenix in the long and triple jumps. Abraham broke into the program’s top-five all-time list in both events at Wilmington with marks of 18’0.5” (5.50m) in the long jump and 36’11” (11.25m) in the triple jump.
On the distance side, six members of the team will race this weekend. Johansen and Madden are slated to run in the 800-meters while redshirt freshman Elyse Bierut is the lone member competing in the 5,000-meters. Shelby Cuddenback, Emily Dunne and Johansen are scheduled to race for the Phoenix in the 1,500-meters this weekend.
A few members of the men’s cross country team will also race this weekend with Luis Vargas running in the 5,000-meters and James Stevenson and Ari Rothschild competing in the 10,000-meters.
In the throws, Charlise Morgan, Kayleigh Birks, Jennifer Jarvis, Breanna Warren and Briana O’Grady will compete for Elon. Warren had the second-best throw in school history in the discus at Wilmington with a toss of 145’4 (44.30m). Birks set a new personal-best in the hammer throw at Wilmington with a mark of 143’9” (43.82m).
Next Up
The Phoenix will have select members of the distance team group race at the Stanford Invitational on April 4, while the majority of the squad will compete at the Liberty Collegiate Invitational on April 4-5.