Four Saturday Champions Lead Elon Phoenix on Final Day at CAA Women’s Track and Field Championships

NEWARK, Del. – Event championships earned by seniors Kimberly Johansen and Carrie Abraham, junior Emily Dixon and the 4×400-meter relay team led the Elon University women’s track and field team on the final day of the Colonial Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday, May 6, at Stuart and Suzanne Grant Stadium.

FINAL RESULTS

The Phoenix fell short in its attempt to earn its third straight league team title, finishing as the runner-up with 158 points. Towson edged out the maroon and gold with 163.5 points to take team medalist honors while James Madison was third with 140. Host Delaware was fourth with 108.5 points while William & Mary rounded out the top five scores with 105 points.

Johansen took medalist honors in both the 800 and 1,500-meter races for the Phoenix, the second time in the past three CAA meets that she has won both league titles. The Chelmsford, England, native clocked a time of 2:09.87 in the 800-meters and ran a time of 4:25.64.

Dixon defended her heptathlon CAA title for the third straight year after the Bath, England, native posted 4,799 points in the multi-events. She was able to outlast JMU’s Nicolette Serratore who was second with 4,574 points.

Abraham picked up her first CAA league title as the senior jumper took first in the triple jump. The Winchester, Mass., native had a leap of 39’ 10.5” (12.15m) to help the Phoenix win the individual title in the event for the second straight year.

Elon concluded the meet with its 4×400-meter relay team of Desiree Ross, Meagan Henderson, Katie Arbogast and Lauren Brzozowski taking the title in the mile relay. The quartet ran a time of 3:45.17 in the race.

The Phoenix also saw many of its athletes received All-CAA honors on the second day of the meet, including three runner-up finishes. Senior Jayna Coyle was second in the triple jump behind teammate Abraham with her mark of 39’ 6.50” earning All-CAA accolades in the event for the second straight year. Rookie Melody Burke was fifth overall with her leap of 37’ 8.50”.

Junior Bryanna Hames also had second-place standings in both the discus throw and the shot put. The Charlotte, N.C., native set a personal-best and broke her own school-record in the shot put with her toss of 48’ 00” (14.63m). In the discus, she also broke her school-record with her new personal-record throw of 172’ 6” (52.57m). Teammate Bre’anna Warren was third with her throw of 158’ 2” (48.20m) while rookie Skylar Barthelmes was fourth with a throw of 152’ 6 (46.48m).

Sophomore Chelsea Smith was fourth in the 800-meters with her new personal-best time of 2:13.55. Freshman Melissa Anastasakis was also fourth in the 1,500-meters with her time of 4:33.03. In the 5,000-meters, Shelby Cuddeback was fourth after clocking a time of 17:10.75 while Anastasakis was fifth 17:13.01.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Corey Weiss was sixth with her time of 10:54.44, a new personal-record for the junior.

The Phoenix will look to have select athletes qualify of the NCAA East Preliminaries beginning on May 25. Members of the team will compete at the Aggie Last Chance meet on May 14, hosted by North Carolina A&T.