Elon Cross Country Set for CAA Championships

ELON, N.C. – The Elon University cross country programs begin postseason competition this Friday, Oct. 26, as the Phoenix competes at the 2018 Colonial Athletic Association Cross Country Championships hosted by Hofstra University. The meet will take place at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., with the women’s 6K kicking off competition at 10 a.m. followed by the men’s 8K at 11 a.m.

MEET INFO

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Updates of the meet will be posted on Twitter at the programs’ handle, @ElonXCTF. Fans can watch the post-championship awards ceremony via Facebook Live (Facebook.com/caasports). Be sure to follow the CAA on Twitter (@CAASports), Instagram (@caasports) and Snapchat (caasports) and join the conversation, using the hashtag #CAAChamps. For live results, highlights, recaps, and more, visit CAASports.com/XCchamps.

Meet Information
Hofstra is hosting the CAA Championships for the first time since 2007 after following the Phoenix as hosts for the meet. Nine teams will compete on the women’s side with James Madison coming in as the defending champion after snapping William & Mary’s five-year championship run in 2017. On the men’s side, six teams will be in competition as William & Mary enters the meet ranked 12th in the USTFCCCA Southeast region and will be looking to extend its reign atop the CAA to 19 straight championships.

Running for the Phoenix
Women – Melissa Anastasakis, Grace Dellapa, Coralea Geraniotis, Bridget Kanaley, Paige King, Hannah Preeo, Natacha Savioz, Chelsea Smith, Emily Smith, Sophia Tasselmyer, Rachael Wesolowski

Men – Nick Ciolkowski, Michael Germinario, Cooper Jansson, Richie Kasper, Colton Lawson, Andrew Miller, Kieran Ungemach, Connor White

Quick Splits
• The Phoenix last competed at the ECU Pirate Invitational on Oct. 12, in Grimesland, N.C. The Phoenix women won the meet after scoring 40 points and edging out host ECU, who finished with 50. The maroon and gold men was third overall with 84 points.
• The Elon women heads into the CAA Championships as the lone CAA squad earning a USTFCCCA regional ranking, entering the top 15 in the Southeast region at No. 13.
• Coralea Geraniotis earned her second CAA Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week award on Tuesday, Oct. 16. It was the third overall weekly accolade for the Orleans, Mass., native after she set a new personal-record in the 6K at the ECU Pirate Invitational with a time of 21:18.09.
• Two other runners on the female side – Melissa Anastasakis and Chelsea Smith – also set new personal-bests at the ECU Pirate Invitational. Anastasakis joined Geraniotis in the top-10 at the meet and ran a time of 21:44.63. Smith also finished in the top-10 for the Phoenix women as the Toms River, N.J., native ran a time of 21:51.270 – a new personal-record by nearly a minute.
• In the men’s 8K at the ECU meet, Michael Germinario broke into the program’s top-10 performance list after his new personal-record time of 25:09.7 – the fifth-best performance in school history.
• Nick Ciolkowski led the Phoenix men at the ECU Pirate Invitational as the Fairport, N.Y., native clocked a time of 25:08.8 and was 12th overall. The senior will look for this third individual medalist honor at the CAA Championships after finishing fourth at the meet as season ago.

ECU Pirate Invitational Recap
Elon won the women’s title over host ECU, who finished second with 50 points, while Norfolk State (67), Western Carolina (81) and UNC Asheville (109) rounded out the top five teams. The Elon men was edged out for second by host ECU, who had 61 points as a team. Duke took the team title with 31 points.

In the women’s 6K, freshman Hannah Preeo was 11th with a time of 21:58.6 while Sophia Tasselmyer rounded out the Phoenix scorers with her time of 22:57.6 in 24th overall.

In the men’s 8K, Andrew Miller was 14th overall with his time of 25:10.1, just eight seconds shy of his personal-best. Cooper Jansson was the fourth Phoenix runner to cross the finish line for the maroon and gold as he clocked a time of 25:34.0 – a new personal-record – and finished 22nd overall. Richie Kasper ran a 25:43.2 and was 25th overall to close out the top-five times for the Phoenix.

Up Next
The Phoenix turns its attention to the Southeast region, as the maroon and gold race at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet on Friday, November 9 in Rock Hill, S.C.