ELON, N.C. – The 2018-19 schedule for the Elon University women’s track and field team was announced on Friday, Nov. 2, by Phoenix director of track and field and cross country Mark Elliston. Overall, the Phoenix is scheduled to take part in 10 indoor and nine outdoor competitions including hosting the 2019 Colonial Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
“Looking forward to starting the season real soon,” said Elliston. “We’ve been working out hard this fall as the season rapidly approaches in December. This schedule should offer the high-quality competition that we’re looking for while also shaping our skills for the championship season. I’m just really excited and looking forward to begin soon.”
The season kicks off at the JDL College Kickoff Classic on Dec. 1, the first of five meets at the JDL Fast Track Complex for the Phoenix during the indoor season. Elon also will compete at the Wake Forest Invitational (Jan. 19-20), Camel City Invite (Feb. 1-2), JDL Team Challenge (Feb. 7) and the JDL Invitational (Feb. 15-16).
Elon will make two visits to Liberty during indoor competition at the Liberty Kickoff (Jan. 25-26) and the Darius Dixon Invite (Feb. 8-9). Select members of the distance program will travel to the David Hemery Valentine Invite on Feb. 8-9, at Boston University.
The Phoenix closes the indoor regular season at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Feb. 15-16, before traveling to the 2019 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Indoor Championships in Boston on March 1-3. The 2019 NCAA Indoor National Championships will be held on March 9-10, in Birmingham, Ala.
The outdoor season begins at the Charlotte Classic (March 15-16) followed by the High Point VertKlasse meet on March 22-23. Elon closes out the month at the prestigious Raleigh Relays on March 29-30.
Elon opens April with its annual home meet, the Phoenix Invitational, on April 6, at the Jerry and Jeanne Robertson Track and Field Complex. Following that meet, various event groups for the Phoenix will travel to the Charlotte Invite (April 12-13), the North Carolina A&T Invite (April 12-13), the Duke Invite (April 19-20) and Virginia (April 19-20 and April 27).
On May 3-4, Elon welcomes the league’s best as the Phoenix hosts the 2019 CAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Elon last hosted the CAA Championships in 2016, where the Phoenix claimed its second conference title on its home track. Last season at the CAA meet, Elon just missed out on its third league title by 1.5 points.
“It’s an exciting time to host the CAA Championships and have the conference come again to Elon,” said Elliston. “Our goal is to always compete for a conference championship and hopefully being at home in front of friends, family and other supporters will help motivate our team to compete at a high level.”
The outdoor season will culminate with the NCAA East Preliminaries on May 23-25, in Jacksonville, Fla., and at the NCAA Championships on Jun 5-8, in Austin, Texas.