Four from Elon Claim All-CAA Cross Country Accolades

RICHMOND, Va. – Four members of the Elon University men’s and women’s cross country programs were recognized on the Colonial Athletic Association cross country post season awards as announced by the league office on Wednesday, Nov. 29.
CAA Release

Senior Brigid Brennan, junior Coralea Geraniotis, and sophomore Melissa Anastasakis were named All-CAA on the women’s side. Junior Nick Ciolkowski was also recognized with All-CAA accolades on the men’s side.

Brennan emerged during her senior cross country campaign to lead the Phoenix female harriers in every race she competed in and earned All-CAA honors for the first time in her career. The Northport, N.Y., native, finished eighth overall at the CAA Cross Country Championships with her time of 21:44.7. She also clocked the second-fastest 6K time in school history this season at the Paul Short Run with a time of 20:52.7, which helped her earn CAA Runner of the Week honors for the first time.

Geraniotis and Anastasakis earned All-CAA honors for the second straight season after finishing ninth and 11th, respectively, at the CAA Cross Country Championships. Geraniotis set a new personal-best time of 21:32 at the Paul Short Run this season while Anastasakis had a season-best performance of 21:57.1 at the same meet.

“I’m really proud of the accomplishments of Nick, Brigid, Coralea and Melissa in our championship cross country races,” said Phoenix head cross country coach Kevin Jermyn. “Brigid was one of the most improved runners in the CAA this year, improving by 20 places in the CAA Championships with her eighth-place finish. Coralea and Melissa showed great championship racing consistency by repeating their all-conference honors from a year ago.”

Ciolkowski earned All-CAA accolades for the third straight season as the Fairport, N.Y., native finished fourth at the league championship meet with a time of 25:12.6 in the 8K. Despite competing in only three total meets during the season, Ciolkowski was able to cap off his season with a strong finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships with a time of 30:34.2 – the second-fastest 10K performance in school history. He also earned league weekly honors after earning a top-15 finish at the NCAA Pre-Nationals after clocking a season-best time of 24:39.3 in the 8K.

“Nick missed most of September with an injury, but was able to overcome this setback with a fourth-place finish at the CAA Championships,” said Jermyn. “He was then the top CAA finisher at the NCAA Southeast Regionals (at 49th overall). While he had hopes of achieving even greater things, he overcame a lot to finish as well as he did.”

James Madison’s Nora Raher and William & Mary’s JP Trojan were named the league’s Women’s and Men’s Runner of the Year, respectively, after both won individual medalist honors at the CAA Championships. JMU’s Dave Rinker was honored as the CAA Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year while the Tribe’s Forest Braden was honored as the CAA Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year. Lauren Finikiotis of William & Mary was named the CAA Women’s Cross Country Rookie of the Year while Zach Skolnekovich of William & Mary was the league’s Rookie of the Year on the men’s side.