Elon Track and Field Finishes Second at UNCW Invite

WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Elon University track and field team completed its 2014 outdoor debut on Saturday, March 15, on the final day at the UNC Wilmington Seahawk Invitational at the Greene Track and Field Complex. The Phoenix finished in second at the meet with 159 points, 20 points behind host UNCW.

Tereza Novotna and Kaitlin Snapp took the top two spots in the 1,500-meter run with times of 4:42.44 and 4:47.30, respectively.

Sydney Griffin won the 100-meters with a time of 14.23 while fellow sophomore Jennifer Esposito was fourth overall in the race with her time of 15.20.

Esposito did capture the title in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.38, the second fastest performance in school history. Senior Veronica Luedke was fourth overall after finishing with a time of 1:03.88.

Megan Kirschling set a new school-record in the high jump, finishing second in the event with a cleared height of 1.75m.

Sophomore Simone Jackson ran the second-fastest time in school history in the 100-meters with a time of 12.32 and was fifth overall in the race. Fellow sophomore Bria Turner just missed a top-10 finish with her time of 12.67.

In the 200-meters, senior Bria Bell was the top finisher for Elon in third overall after clocking in a time of 24.94 while Griffin was close behind in fourth with her time of 24.96.

Kimberly Johansen and Jackie Madden were the top two runners in the 800-meter race for Elon with times of 2:16.97 and 2:17.10 and were third and fourth, respectively.

The 4×400-meter relay team of Bell, Jennifer Pash, Luedke and Esposito was second overall in the race with a time of 3:52.51.

In the throwing events, Charlise Morgan finished as the runner up in the shot put with a heave of 13.89-meters. Freshman Breanna Warren threw the second-best mark in school history in the discus throw, finishing second with a toss of 44.30m.

Members of the Elon men’s cross country team also competed today in some of the distance events. Luis Vargas set a new men’s outdoor school-record in the 1,500-meters, winning the race with a time of 3:50.72. Adam Bernstein garnered a top-10 finish with a time of 4:08.00 while senior James Stevenson also competed with his time of 4:16.37, 14th overall.

The Phoenix returns to competition on March 28-29 in Raleigh, N.C., for the Raleigh Relays.