Final Day Results
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Sophomore
Sydney Griffin captured her second consecutive conference title in the 60-meter hurdles as the Elon University women's track and field team wrapped up competition at the 2014 Southern Conference Indoor Championships on Sunday, March 2, at the JDL Fast Track Complex.
The Phoenix finished fifth overall as a team in the championships with 88 total points, the most scored by the team at the conference meet. The maroon and gold also added a few more All-Conference performers to its all-time list on Sunday, headed by Griffin defending her title in the 60-meters.
"We did pretty good and it was the most points we've ever scored so it's hard to be upset," said Elon head track and field coach
Mark Elliston. "This is probably the toughest indoor meet that I've ever been to because a lot of the other schools came to compete. We were right there with them, but just didn't have the numbers."
Griffin ran a time of 8.60 in the finals of the race, easily taking medalist honors for Elon.
Jennifer Esposito also competed for the Phoenix in the event and ran a time of 9.12, finishing eighth. Griffin was also the Phoenix's top runner in the 200-meters with a time of 25.17 and a sixth-place standing.
"Sydney did a really great job today to defend her title," said Elliston "She was challenged early because she did not get out of the blocks very well and they other girls were on her, but she managed to pull away, stay tough and get the win."
In the women's 5,000-meter run, senior
Allyson Oram capped off a terrific senior indoor campaign by earning All-Conference honors as she finished as the runner-up in the race. Oram set a new school-record in the race with a new indoor personal-best time of 16:53.28, despite some confusion from the officials that caused her to stop prematurely prior to her final lap.
"Ally had another great performance today coming off her win in the 3K yesterday," said Elon head cross country and assistant track and field coach
Christine Engel. "In a really competitive field, she ran a tough spirited race and could have ran a bit faster had she not have been stopped then had to restart again. Still, it resulted in another All-Conference performance."
Redshirt freshman
Elyse Bierut finished in the top-10 of the 5K race with a time of 17:44.03, earning a spot on the league's All-Freshman team.
Tereza Novotna also earned All-Conference accolades after running a new indoor personal-best in the one-mile run with a time of 5:01.15, finishing third.
Senior
Bria Bell was the Phoenix's top performer in the 400-meter dash as she finished third overall with a time of 56.28, earning All-Conference honors.
Jennifer Pash was fourth overall in the race after she clocked in a time of 57.41.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team of Bell, Esposito,
Veronica Luedke and Pash took the bronze in the race after running a time of 3:52.42. Freshman
Carrie Abraham also had a great standing in the triple jump with a leap of 36'11.75" (11.27m).
Western Carolina took the women's team title with a total of 132 points while Appalachian State was second overall with 120.50. Georgia Southern (119) and Samford (113.50) rounded out the top four-team scores at the championship meet.
Elon shifts gears to outdoor competition as the Phoenix travel to Wilmington, N.C., for the UNC Wilmington Invitational on March 14 to open the 2014 outdoor season.
-- ELON --