Elon Track and Field Set for ECAC Indoor Championships

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s track and field team gears up for its first championship meet of the season as the Phoenix heads to Boston for the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Indoor Championships this weekend, March 3-5. The meet will take place inside Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center.

Live Results | Meet Info

Competition kicks off on Friday, March 3, at 3 p.m. with the women’s pentathlon. The rest of the meet begins on Saturday, March 4, at 10 a.m. with the trial round of the 60-meter hurdles.

“The team has been working since this fall and now we’re coming to our first championship meet of the season,” said Elon Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mark Elliston. “I’m really looking forward to seeing how we will compete. I believe that we are ready to do some great things, technically we are ready along with our shape levels and strength. It’s going to be some tough competition, but we have a strong group of qualifiers so I can’t wait to see how it all goes.”

Follow the Phoenix
Fans can keep up with the action of the Phoenix at the meet with live results listed on the Elon women’s track and field schedule page. Other updates will be provided on the team’s social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram at the handle, @eu_xctf.

Elon Prelims
• The Phoenix will compete at the ECAC Indoor Championships for the third straight season. Elon competes in the ECACs for its indoor championship due to the Colonial Athletic Association not sponsoring indoor track and field.
• Last season, the Phoenix finished tied for 11th at the ECACs with 23 points – a 10-spot improvement from a year ago. Connecticut won the meet with 62 points while James Madison was the highest ranked team from the CAA with 48 points in third.
• Elon will take 17 total athletes to Boston this season including a pair of relay teams. Among the individual athletes scheduled to compete for the maroon and gold includes Carrie Abraham (triple jump), Melissa Anastasakis (one-mile), Brigid Brennan (one-mile), Jayna Coyle (triple jump), Shelby Cuddeback (3,000 and 5,000-meters), Emily Dixon (pentathlon, 60-meter hurdles), Coralea Geraniotis (5,000-meters), Bryanna Hames (shot put), Kimberly Johansen (1,000-meters), Briana O’Grady (weight throw) and Bre’anna Warren (shot put).
• The Phoenix will also bring a couple of relay teams to the ECACs. Elon’s distance medley relay team of Geraniotis, Brennan, Chelsea Smith and Lydia Laws will race in Boston as will the Phoenix’s 4×400-meter relay quarter of Katie Arbogast, Desiree Ross, Laws and Lauren Brzozowski.
• The Phoenix will look to pick up some big points in a few events with three individuals ranking in the top-10 of the ECAC in their respective events. Dixon is currently sixth in the pentathlon with 3,702 points while Johansen is ninth in the one-mile with her school-record time of 4:42.77. Warren is also ninth in her event in the indoor shot put with the Greensboro, N.C., native tossing a personal-best mark of 48’ 4” (14.73m).
• O’Grady will be competing at the ECACs for the first time as the senior had a breakthrough indoor season. The South Kingstown, R.I., native set a new personal-record in the weight throw with a heave of 53’ 3.75” (16.25m), the second-best performance in school history.
• Each of the Phoenix throwers heading to the ECACs this weekend has enjoyed great success during the 2017 indoor season. Along with O’Grady and Warren, junior Bryanna Hames has also set a new indoor personal-best this season as the Charlotte, N.C., native has thrown a mark of 46’ 6.5” (14.49m) this year.
• Johansen has broken her own school-record in the one-mile run three times this season while also doing the same in the 1,000-meters with her time of 2:49.22.
• Elon’s 4×400-meter relay team of Ross, Arbogast, Laws and Brzozowski clocked the second-fastest time in school history at the Virginia Tech Challenge on Feb. 18. The group ran a time of 3:48.36 at the meet.
• Each member of the Phoenix’s indoor senior class (Abraham, Coyle, Cuddeback, Johansen, O’Grady and Warren) will be competing this weekend.

On Deck
The Phoenix will see if any of its athletes will qualify for the 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships before kicking off the outdoor season on March 17, at the High Point Invitational.