ELON, N.C. – A pair of school-records by junior thrower Bryanna Hames produced two of the 10 victories by the Elon University women’s track and field team as the program hosted its annual home meet, the Phoenix Invitational on Saturday, April 15, at the Jerry and Jeanne Robertson Track and Field Complex.
Hames was once again one of the Phoenix’s top performers as she broke her school-record in the outdoor shotput for the second time this season. The Charlotte, N.C., native had a toss of 14.61m to win the title in the event. Elon took the top three spots of the shot put as Bre’anna Warren was second with her heave of 14.16m – a new outdoor personal-best for her and only second to Hames on the program’s all-time performance list. Freshman Skylar Barthelmes was third with her toss of 12.69.
Hames also broke her own school-mark in the discus as she threw a 52.29m – besting her previous record by .02m. She would take first in the event as well. Warren was the runner-up with the Greensboro, N.C., native tossing a 49.84m in the event. Barthelmes was fourth at 42.36m.
Barthelmes would shine in the javelin throw, taking medalist honors after the rookie had the second-best throw in school history at 41.64m. In the hammer throw, Briana O’Grady was second with her toss of 49.91m while Hames was third at 47.13m.
Elon also swept the podium in the 400-meters as Desiree Ross won medalist honors with her time of 57.09. Lauren Brzozowski was the runner-up with a season-best time of 57.38 while Katie Arbogast was third at 57.47. All three took the second through fourth positions in the 200-meters with Ross (25.86), Brzozowski (25.89) and Arbogast (26.61) each finishing within the top-five of the race.
Emily Dixon took the title in the 100-meter hurdles as the Bath, England, native ran a time of 14.94. Junior Lydia Laws was third at 15.73 for the Phoenix. Laws did claim the title in the 400-meter hurdles after clocking a time of 1:03.16. Meagan Henderson was the runner-up with her time of 1:03.67, a new personal-best.
Another title was won by the Phoenix’s 4×400-meter relay team. The quartet ran a time of 3:52.39 – a new season-best.
Melody Burke won the high jump title as the rookie cleared the bar at 5’ 5” (1.65m) and broke into the program’s top-five performance list. Dixon was second with her mark of 1.59m. In the long jump, Carrie Abraham took the victory as the senior finished with a leap of 5.67m. Burke was fourth in the event at 5.36m.
Abraham also won the triple jump with her mark of 11.81m. Fellow senior Jayna Coyle was second with her jump of 11.59m.
Chelsea Smith set a new personal-best time in the 800-meters after crossing the finish line as the runner-up with a time of 2:13.77. Rookie Emily Smith was fourth overall in the race with her time of 2:18.27, a new personal-record.
Senior Shelby Cuddeback earned a new personal-record in the 1,500-meters with her time of 4:38.41. She finished third overall in the race. Sami King earned a top-10 standing in the race as well with her time of 4:52.72 while Sophia Tasselmyer rounded out the top-10 finishers for Elon at her time of 5:06.00.
In the pole vault, both Ellie Bennett and Nicole Karabas were tied for third in the event after clearing the bar a 3.35m.
Elon closes out its outdoor regular season next weekend at the Duke Invitational on April 21-22.