Elon Track and Field to Compete at Virginia Tech Challenge

ELON, N.C. – In its final indoor meet of the regular season, the Elon University women’s track and field team travels to Blacksburg, Va., to compete at the Virginia Tech Challenge this weekend, Feb. 20-21, at the Rector Fieldhouse. The meet is slated to kickoff at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 20.

Live Coverage
Updates of the Phoenix’s results at the meet will be posted on the program’s Twitter handle, @eu_xctf and on @elonscores.

In Competition This Weekend
The Phoenix will have 25 athletes in competition this weekend as many of them will attempt to qualify for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Indoor Championships in Boston on March 5-7. Elon currently has eight athletes qualified for the meet in Elyse Bierut (3,000 and 5,000 meters), Jen Esposito (400-meters), Sydney Griffin (60-meter hurdles), Bryanna Hames (shot put), Kimberly Johansen (one-mile, 800 and 1,000-meters), Megan Kirschling (high jump), Tereza Novotna (one-mile) and Bre’anna Warren (shot put). Freshman Emily Dixon also qualified for the ECACs in the pentathlon, but is currently sitting 16th on the league’s performance list (the ECAC takes the top 15 from each event).

Last Time Out
The Phoenix split into two groups last week as majority of the team competed at the High Point Team Challenge on Thursday, Feb. 12. Johansen won the 800-meters with a time of 2:12.97, setting a new school-record in her third indoor event this season as the Chelmsford, England, native qualified for her third event at the ECACs.

Hames won the shot put after the Charlotte, N.C., native had a toss of 44’ 6” (13.56m), the second-best throw in school history. Griffin won the 60-meter hurdles with her time of 8.93 while Novotna set a new personal-record in the one-mile with a time of 4:58.02, winning the event.

The Phoenix also saw the 4×400-meter relay team of Jennifer Pash, freshman Lydia Laws, Johansen and Esposito win the race with a time of 3:57.03.

Last Friday, Feb. 13, Elon had four members of its distance team compete at the SPIRE Division I Indoor Meet in Geneva, Ohio. Bierut clocked in a new personal-best time of 17:11.09 in the 5,000-meters while senior Jenny Gallagher also set a new personal-record in the race with her time of 17:40.55. Both performances are the second and third-fastest in school history, respectively. Sophomore Shelby Cuddeback joined them in the top-five of the program’s all-time performance list with her time of 17:44.84.

On Deck
Select members of the maroon and gold will compete in its first-ever ECAC Indoor Championship meet in Boston on March 5-7.