ELON, N.C. – Coming off a successful meet at the Raleigh Relays this past weekend, the Elon University women’s track and field teams will travel to High Point, N.C., for the 2016 VertKlasse Meeting Friday through Saturday, April 1-2, inside the Vert Stadium on the campus at High Point University.
Follow the Phoenix
Keep up with the action of the Phoenix this weekend at the meet with live results accessible through the program’s schedule page at elonphoenix.com. Updates will also be provided on Twitter at the handle @elonscores and @EU_XCTF. The meet will also be streamed on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on highpointpanthers.com.
Raleigh Relays Recap
Elon competed at its second outdoor meet of the season at the prestigious Raleigh Relays on March 25-26. Senior Jen Esposito highlighted the Phoenix’s run at the meet with her victory in the 400-meter hurdles as the Mansfield, Mass., native ran a 58.01. Teammate Lydia Laws was fourth in the event with her time of 1:01.46, now the third-best time in school history.
Esposito and Laws later helped the 4×400-meter relay team that also featured Lauren Brzozowski and Katie Arbogast to a 3:48.05 time and a sixth-place finish. That time sneaks the group into the program’s top-five performance list.
Senior Sydney Griffin broke the school-record in the 100-meter dash with her time of 11.98 in the preliminary round. She also finished fourth overall in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.78. Esposito and Griffin along with Desiree Ross and Simone Jackson aided the 4×100-meter relay team to a 46.86 time.
Carrie Abraham had a new personal-record in the long jump finishing eighth with a leap of 8′ 8.75″ (5.71m). That mark is now second-best in school history. Sophomore Bryanna Hames was fifth in the discus throw with her heave of 154′ 5″ (47.08m).
Outdoor Prelims
• Esposito garnered weekly honors from the Colonial Athletic Association and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) for her performance at the Raleigh Relays earlier this week. Along with her 400-meter hurdles performance, Esposito also helped the 4×400-meter relay team to the fastest time in the CAA this season (3:48.05).
• Esposito’s 58.01 in the 400-meter hurdles is currently seventh in the NCAA East Qualifying list and first overall in the CAA.
• Tereza Novotna clocked a time of 10:28.05 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Raleigh Relays. That performance is currently fifth on the East Qualifying list.
• Elon holds the top times or marks in four events on the CAA Outdoor Performance list and has nine others that’s currently sitting second. Esposito (400-meter hurdles), Griffin (100-meter hurdles), Novotna (3,000-meter steeplechase) and the 4×400-meter relay team currently sit atop the league rankings in their respective events.
• The freshman duo of Ellie Bennett and Nicole Karabas have made an immediate impact in the outdoor pole vault this year. In their first outdoor collegiate meet at the Shamrock Invitational on March 19, the pair both cleared the bar 10’ 6” (3.20m) with Bennett needing fewer attempts to do so. Those marks are currently tied for third on the program’s all-time performance list.
• Junior Jayna Coyle set a new personal-best this year in triple jump at the Shamrock Invitational. The Somerset, Pa., native had a leap of 37’ 8” (11.48m) and is now fifth all-time in school history.
On Deck
Elon travels to the University of Virginia next week for the Lou Onesty/Milton G. Abramson Invitational on Saturday, April 9.