Elon Phoenix Dominant at Indoor Season Opener at JDL Kickoff Classic

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – New school-records by seniors Sydney Griffin and Jen Esposito were among the many highlights for the Elon University women’s track and field team as the Phoenix opened its 2015-16 indoor campaign on Saturday, Dec. 5, at the JDL Kickoff Classic inside the JDL Fast Track Complex.

RESULTS

Griffin broke her own school record in the 60-meter hurdles after clocking a time of 8.53 in the preliminary round. She bested her previous program-best time of 8.56 in the event, but tied that performance in the final round and finished fourth overall in the race.

Esposito also moved herself on the top of the program’s all-time performance list in the 500-meter dash. The Mansfield, Mass., native was the runner-up in the race after finishing with a time of 1:15.63.

Both Griffin and Esposito returned to the track to compete in the 300-meter dash and the 4×400-meter relay, respectively. Griffin was fourth in the 300-meters with her time of 40.33 while Esposito helped the Phoenix’s 4×400-meter “A” team of Jennifer Pash, Desiree Ross and Lauren Brzozowski to a runner-up finish with a time of 3:58.42. The Phoenix’s “B” team of Meagan Henderson, Lydia Laws, Katie Arbogast and Samantha Brown was fourth after clocking a 4:01.70.

In the shot put, the Phoenix throwers were equally impressive as Elon swept the podium. Bre’anna Warren took home individualist honors with her toss of 43’ 6.50” (13.27m), edging out teammate Majayla Holland by .02m. Holland ended up with a new personal-record throw of 43’ 5.75” (13.25m), breaking into the top-five marks in school history. Bryanna Hames rounded out the top-three for Elon with her heave of 42’ 11” (13.08m).

Senior Megan Kirschling ended as the runner-up in the high jump with her cleared height of 5’ 5” (1.65m). In the pole vault, rookie Nicole Karabas broke into the program’s top-five performance list after clearing the bar at 10’ 6” (3.20m), third-best mark in school history.

Pash, Ross and Brzozowski all finished in the top-10 of the 400-meters with Pash leading the way with a time of 1:00.04. Ross (1:00.16) and Brzozowski (1:00.34) were not far behind as was Henderson at 1:00.53.

Carrie Abraham was Elon’s top finisher in both the long and triple jumps. The junior had a best leap of 17’ 2” (5.23m) in the long jump while having a mark of 36’ 9” (11.20m) in the triple jump. Fellow junior Briana O’Grady also had a strong showing in the weight throw, finishing sixth overall with her heave of 47’ 6.50” (14.49m).

The Phoenix heads into winter break before returning to the JDL Fast Track Complex on Jan. 16 to compete at the Wake Forest Invitational.