Elon Track and Field Primed For NCAA East Preliminaries

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the third straight season, the Elon University women’s track and field team will have a program-best five athletes compete at the NCAA East Preliminaries beginning on Thursday, May 26, at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida.

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The event is the first of two meets as part of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships that begin this week and conclude in Eugene, Oregon June 8-11. Returning to the regional meet for the third straight year are senior hurdlers Jen Esposito (400-meter hurdles) and Sydney Griffin (100-meter hurdles) while the distance duo of Kimberly Johansen (1,500-meters) and Tereza Novotna (3,000-meter steeplechase) are back for the second consecutive season. Rounding out the Phoenix qualifiers is sophomore thrower Bryanna Hames (discus), who makes her debut at the NCAA East Preliminary round.

Esposito enters the meet as the No. 21 seed in the 400-meter hurdles. The Mansfield, Mass., native repeated as the CAA Outdoor Champion in the event and had a season-best time of 58.01 at the Raleigh Relays earlier in the year. Last season at the East prelims, Esposito finished 16th in the semifinal round of the race, just four spots from advancing to nationals.

Griffin continues her terrific senior campaign with her third consecutive trip to the NCAA preliminaries. The Marietta, Ga., native helped the maroon and gold to its second straight Colonial Athletic Association outdoor track and field championship with individual conference titles in both the 100-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash. She also anchored the Phoenix’s 4×100-meter team to a CAA title with a school-record time of 45.91 at the league championships.

Both Johansen and Novotna will look to better their performances of a year ago as the tandem returns for their second try at the NCAA East prelims. Johansen earned All-CAA honors in the 1,500-meters this season after finishing as the runner-up at the CAA Championships. Last season, Novotna broke her own school-record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with her time of 10:10.04 in the race at the regional meet. She also received All-CAA accolades with her runner-up finish at the CAA meet in the steeplechase race.

Hames enters the meet as Elon’s highest ranked athlete in her event as the Charlotte, N.C., native is No. 20 in the East region in the discus throw. She extended her school-record in the event as she had a toss of 171’ 6” (52.27m) as the runner-up at the CAA Championships.

Action begins for the Phoenix on Thursday, May 26, with Esposito in the first round of the 400-meter hurdles at 4:30 p.m. followed by Johansen in the 1,500-meters.

With a top-12 finish in their respective events this weekend, each individual advances to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., on June 8-11.