Liberty Kickoff Next for Elon Track and Field

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University women’s track and field team will compete next at the Liberty Kickoff beginning on Friday, Jan. 26, for its third meet of the indoor campaign. The two-day meet concludes on Saturday, Jan. 27, inside the Liberty Indoor Track Complex.

Meet Info | Schedule | Live Results

The first events for the Phoenix on Friday, the women’s weight throw, is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. start followed by Elon athletes competing in the pole vault. The following day, the maroon and gold will begin the meet with the women’s long jump at 9:30 a.m.

Follow the Phoenix
Follow the Phoenix during the meet and throughout the season on the program’s Twitter page at @EU_XCTF. Other updates will also be provided on Twitter at the handle @elonscores. Live results of the meet will be available on the program’s schedule page.

Setting the Stage
About 40 programs will be represented at the Liberty Kickoff this weekend. Along with the Phoenix, four total programs from the Colonial Athletic Association will be in attendance at the meet with James Madison, UNCW and William & Mary expected to compete. Other notable programs include East Carolina, host Liberty, North Carolina A&T, Radford, VCU and Atlantic Coast Conference schools Virginia and Virginia Tech. Twenty-four athletes are expected to make the trip and compete this weekend for the Phoenix.

Last Time Out
Elon last competed at the VMI Keydet Invitational last weekend, Jan. 19-20, and had several notable performances at the meet including a new school-record by the 4×800-meter relay team. The Phoenix also had another victory from its distance medley relay squad and a couple of personal-records set from some individuals.

The 4×800-meter quartet of Melissa Anastasakis, Brigid Brennan, Chelsea Smith and Emily Smith clocked a time of 9:17.87 in race, taking medalist honors. The time edged the previous program-best time of 9:19.02 from last season and also qualified the group for the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Indoor Championships.

Elon picked up another victory in the distance medley relay with Brennan, Lauren Brzozowski, Anastasakis and Coralea Geraniotis combining for a time of 12:10.27. That time is now the third-best performance in school history. In the 1,000-meters, sophomore Paige King moved into the program’s top-five performance list with her time of 3:05.16, a new personal-record for the Hingham, Mass., native.

Freshman Moira O’Malley also jumped into the program’s top-five performance list in the high jump. The Harleysville, Pa., native established a new personal-best with a cleared height of 5′ 5″ (1.65m) and was fifth overall.

Junior Katie Arbogast set a new personal-record in the 400-meters with her time of 58.47 in the race. The Media, Pa., native finished sixth overall in the race for the Phoenix.

In the 800-meter run, Chelsea Smith, newcomer Natacha Savioz and Emily Smith all garnered top-10 standings in the event. Chelsea Smith crossed the line fifth overall with her time of 2:17.47 followed by Savioz, who was sixth at her time of 2:17.99. Emily Smith edged into the top-10 with a time of 2:19.72 and ninth overall.

Elon ended the meet ninth overall with 42 total points, just three points shy of fellow Colonial Athletic Association foe William & Mary. East Carolina won the meet with 130.5 points, nearly 32 points better than the runner-up, NC State, who ended with 99 points.

On Deck
The Phoenix kicks off the month of February with select groups competing at the Darius Dixon Invitation back in Liberty on Feb. 2-3. Others will head to the JDL Fast Track Complex for the Camel City Invitational also on Feb. 2-3.