ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s and women’s cross country programs are set to race at the 2019 NCAA Southeast Regional Championships on Friday, Nov. 15, hosted by the University of Virginia. The meet will take place at the Panorama Farms with the women’s 6K race starting at 10:30 a.m. followed by the men’s 10K at 11:30 a.m.
“I am really excited to see our teams compete tomorrow,” said Elon head cross country coach Kevin Jermyn. “We are coming off our best team races of the year in the (Colonial Athletic Association) Championships and are targeting school record team finishes.”
Follow @ElonXCTF
Updates of the meet will be posted on the teams’ social media pages on Twitter and Instagram at the handle, @ElonXCTF. Live results will be provided and can be found on the programs’ schedule page at elonphoenix.com along with a recap and results at the conclusion of the meet. Fans who have a FloTrack subscription can stream the meet live. Recognition of the top runners and teams will take place immediately following the second race.
About the Field
• Heading into the race, the meet features three teams on the women’s side that are nationally ranked in defending regional champion NC State (No. 5), Furman (No. 14) and Virginia Tech. On the men’s side, host Virginia (No. 23), Virginia Tech (No. 24) and Eastern Kentucky (No. 26) are the nationally ranked squads.
• Elon is currently ranked sixth in the women’s Southeast Regional rankings – its highest ranking ever at any point during the season. NC State, Furman, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and North Carolina are ahead of the Phoenix in that order.
• The men’s regional poll features Virginia, Virginia Tech, Eastern Kentucky, Furman and Wake Forest as the top-five teams.
• The top two teams from the regional championship will automatically qualify to compete at next weekend’s NCAA Championships.
• The first four student-athletes who finish in the top 25 in the region and are not from one of those qualifying teams will also earn automatic spots as individual competitors.
Phoenix Entries
• Elon is slated to have seven women on the starting line for the race on Friday. Set to run for the Phoenix are Melissa Anastasakis, Maria Ahm, Grace Dellapa, Scolasticah Kemei, Hannah Preeo, Margaret Springer and Anna Twomey.
• In the men’s race, the Phoenix men will be represented by its six runners of Richie Kasper, Tamer Metwalli, Andrew Miller, Aidan Tierney, Kieran Ungemach and Connor White.
Last Season at the NCAA Southeast Regionals
• Last season, the Elon men finished 19th overall at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships in Rock Hill, S.C. It was a nine-spot improvement for the maroon and gold men from the previous season.
• In the women’s 6K race, the Phoenix finished 22nd overall in the tough field with 598 points.
• Melissa Anastasakis was the top overall finisher for the Phoenix with her then-personal-best time of 21:36.0 and was 79th overall.
• Nick Ciolkowski concluded his cross country career with the Phoenix as the first Elon men’s runner to cross the line in 49th with his time of 31:15.5.
Last Time Out
• The Elon women won its first-ever conference championship with its victory at the 2019 CAA Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2, hosted by James Madison University. The Phoenix scored 41 points at the meet.
• Kemei took won the women’s 6K at the CAAs becoming the second straight Elon female to earn individual medalist honors. The Eldoret, Kenya, native broker her own school-record with a time of 20:23.7 and easily won the women’s race by over 18 seconds over the second-place finisher.
• Anastasakis was third overall for her highest finish ever at the CAA meet. The Hillsdale, Ontario, native set a new personal-record with a time of 20:46.7 at the meet – the second-fastest time in school history. She also received All-CAA accolades for the fourth straight year.
• Maria Ahm also finished in the top-five for the Phoenix, setting a new personal-record with a time of 20:51.2. Hannah Preeo was 11th with her time of 21:13.4 and was named All-CAA along with Ahm.
• In the men’s 8K, Elon was third overall with 84 points. The Phoenix had a pair of All-CAA runners in sophomore Andrew Miller and freshman Aidan Tierney.
• Miller was seventh in the race while earning all-league honors for the second straight year with his time of 24:59. Tierney finished 11th overall in the men’s 8K and had a time of 25:27.5.
Up Next
Qualifying teams and individuals will compete at the NCAA Cross Country Championships next Saturday, Nov. 23, in Terre Haute, Ind.