Elon Women’s Track and Field Preps for Final Regular Season Meets

ELON, N.C. – As the 2017 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Indoor Championships loom in a couple of weeks, the Elon University women’s track and field team looks to close out its indoor regular season on high note as the Phoenix splits for meets this Friday and Saturday at the Virginia Tech Challenge on Feb. 17-18, and at the UCS Challenge on Feb. 18, at the JDL Fast Track Complex.

“We are looking forward to the ending of the regular season this weekend,” said Elon Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Mark Elliston. “We have qualified a number of athletes for the ECACs, but are looking for four or five more that can make it this weekend. This weekend is big not only for those athletes, but also for the ones who will be transitioning to the outdoor schedule as we hope to keep their technique sharp and their condition levels up.”

Follow the Phoenix
Fans can keep up with the action of the Phoenix at the meets with live results listed on the Elon women’s track and field schedule page. Other updates will be provided on the team’s social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram at the handle, @eu_xctf.

Elon Prelims
• Elon heads into the weekend meets with seven individual athletes who have already qualified and clinched their tickets for the ECACs. Carrie Abraham (triple jump), Shelby Cuddeback (5,000-meters), Emily Dixon (pentathlon, 60-meter hurdles), Coralea Geraniotis (5,000-meters), Bryanna Hames (shot put), Kimberly Johansen (1,000-meters and one-mile) and Bre’anna Warren (shot put) will head to Boston for the ECAC Indoor meet on March 2-5.
• The Phoenix will also have its distance medley and 4×400-meter relay teams also travel to Boston for the ECAC Championships. Elon’s DMR squad of Brigid Brennan, Lydia Laws, Chelsea Smith and Coralea Geraniotis and the 4×400-meter quartet of Desiree Ross, Katie Arbogast, Laws and Lauren Brzozowski will also race at the ECACs.
• Among the ECAC qualifiers, Elon has several athletes that sit among the top-25 on the qualifying list and one in the top-10. Warren is the Phoenix’s highest qualifier as the Greensboro, N.C., native sits ninth in the shot put with her personal-best mark of 48’ 4” (14.73m) that she set at the Liberty Elite Invitational.
• Majority of the team will head to the Virginia Tech Challenge on Friday and Saturday. Among teams expected to compete at that meet includes Duke, North Carolina, NC State, VMI, East Carolina, James Madison, UNCW, High Point and host Virginia Tech. This will be Elon’s second time at Virginia Tech this indoor season after last competing at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Jan. 13-14.
• At the UCS Challenge, Elon will have its throwers and select members of its distance group compete at the one-day meet on Saturday, Feb. 18.

Last Time Out
The Phoenix split for meets last week at the JDL Team Challenge and at the Liberty Elite Invitational. Over the weekend, Elon saw four athletes and its 4×400-meter relay team qualify for the ECAC Indoor Championships.

At the Liberty Elite, Dixon won the heptathlon with 3,702 points and qualified for the ECACs. The Bath, England, native set won the heptathlon 60-meter hurdles, high jump and shot put events while setting new personal-records in the the 60-meter hurdles (8.84) and the high jump (5′ 5″).

In the shot put, Bre’anna Warren set a new personal-record with her toss of 48′ 4″ (14.73m) while finishing as the runner-up. Bryanna Hames was third with her heave of 47′ 3.75″ (14.42m).

In the women’s 5,000-meters, Elon took the top three spots of the race with Geraniotis and Cuddeback advancing to the ECACs. Geraniotis won the race with her time of 17:08.35 while Cuddeback was the runner-up with her time of 17:20.69. Geraniotis’ time broke her into the program’s top-five performance list.

The Phoenix’s 4×400-meter relay team of Ross, Arbogast, Laws and Brzozowski finished as the runner-up in the event with a time of 3:49.96 – the third-fastest time in school history. That effort also qualified the quartet for the ECACs.

Abraham joined the 4×400-meter relay team to qualify for the ECACs in the triple jump. Abraham had a leap of 38′ 8.75″ (11.80m) and was fifth overall. Fellow senior Jayna Coyle set a new personal-record while just missing out on qualifying for the ECACs with her mark of 38′ 2″ (11.63m), which was sixth overall. Freshman Melody Burke finished in the top-10 with her leap of 37′ 5″ (11.40m), which is also a new personal-best.

On Deck
Elon will take a week-long break before traveling to the ECAC Indoor Championships in Boston beginning on March 2.