SPARTANBURG, S.C. – A league championship in the 3,000-meters steeplechase by sophomore Tereza Novotna highlighted the opening day for the Elon University women’s track and field team on Saturday, April 26, the first day of the 2014 Southern Conference Championship meet at Spartanburg High School. The Phoenix ranked fourth after day one with 20 points.
Novotna won her first SoCon outdoor championship in the steeplechase, a year after placing as the runner up in the event. The Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, native ran a time of 10:41.08 in the race, 10 seconds faster than the second-place finisher.
In the hurdles, both Jennifer Esposito and Sydney Griffin won their qualifying rounds in the 400-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles, respectively. Griffin tied her own school record after clocking in a 13.72 in the preliminary round while Esposito slightly missed her school mark after coming in with a 1:00.67. Veronica Luedke (1:01.76) and Samantha Brown (1:02.82) also reached the finals in the 400-meter hurdles with Brown jumping into the program’s top-five all-time with her mark.
Bria Bell came in third in the preliminary round in the 400-meter dash with a time of 55.44. Jennifer Pash also reached the finals with her time of 56.10, good for fifth in the qualifying round. Griffin and Bell also qualified for the finals in the 200-meter run with times of 24.23 and 24.47, respectively.
Senior Kimberlyn Holt fell short of defending her hammer throw title, finishing fourth with a toss of 163’5” (49.80m). Fellow senior Kayleigh Birks joined Holt in the top-10 of the event with a mark of 156’9” (47.78m).
Freshman Carrie Abraham tied her personal-best in the long jump with a mark of 18’0.5” (5.50m), good for eighth overall. Another freshman, Kimberly Johansen, finished fourth in the preliminary round of the 1,500-meters run with a time of 4:39.56.
The second and final day of the league championship meet will conclude tomorrow, April 27, with field events starting at noon.