MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Elon University women’s track and field team closed out competition today, March 14, on the second and final day at the Coastal Carolina Invitational at the Doug Shaw Stadium.
“Today was a good day as I wanted to put them through a lot of stuff,” said Elon director of track and field and cross country, Mark Elliston. “The weather was not what we wanted, but they battled through it and we were able to have some great results because of it.”
The Phoenix’s 4×400-meter relay team of Jennifer Pash, Lydia Laws, Emily Dixon and Jen Esposito captured the event title with a time of 3:55.69, just missing the top-five on the program’s all-time performance list.
Esposito added another title in the seeded 400-meter hurdles as she crossed the line with a time of 1:00.26. Laws was fifth with a time of 1:04.76 while Samantha Brown was also in the top-10 of the race at 1:05.30.
Dixon was the runner-up in the seeded high jump after clearing the bar at 5’ 3” (1.60m) while junior Megan Kirschling was third at the same height, but needed more attempts to clear.
Bre’anna Warren established a new personal-best in the shot put with a throw of 44’ 9” (13.64m) and was third overall. That mark moves her to third all-time in school history in the event. Freshman Bryanna Hames was eighth overall with her heave of 41’ 3” (12.57m) while fellow freshman Majayla Holland finished just outside the top-10 with her mark of 39’ 1” (11.91m).
In the discus throw, Hames garnered a third-place finish in the event after she threw a distance of 151’ 6” (46.18m), jumping to third all-time in school history on the performance list. Warren was sixth overall with a toss of 137’ 8.25” (41.97m).
Simone Jackson completed the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.45 while Sydney Griffin was Elon’s top athlete in the 200-meters with her time of 26.13. In the seeded 400-meters, Pash was eighth overall after clocking a 58.59. Griffin also had a fourth-place standing in the 100-meter hurdles with a time 14.57.
Jenny Gallagher finished third overall in the 1,500-meters with her time of 4:49.65. Brigid Brennan finished in the top-10 of the race with a time of 4:56.24.
A few members of the men’s cross country team also ran on Saturday for Elon. Luis Vargas came in first in the 1,500-meters with his time of 3:55.81 while Reed Payne was the maroon and gold’s top finisher in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:53.51.
The Phoenix is back in action on March 27-28 at the Raleigh Relays, hosted by NC State.