JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A new school-record from Melissa Anastasakis in the 1,500-meters helped her advance to the quarterfinal round for the Elon University women's track and field team as the Phoenix opened competition on Thursday, May 27, at the NCAA East Preliminaries at Hodges Stadium.
 
Anastasakis clocked a time of 4:17.68 in the opening-round race, finishing fifth in her heat and 10^th overall. The Hillsdale, Ontario, native bested her previous personal-record of 4:19.75 and broke Kimberly Johansen's program-record time of 4:18.42 from 2017.
 
In the 10,000-meters, Maria Ahm saw her outstanding outdoor track season come to a close in the race. Ahm ran a time of 34:17.61 and was 17^th overall in the event – just five spots away from qualifying for the NCAA National Championships.
 
On Deck
The Phoenix returns to the track on Saturday, May 29, for the final day of the NCAA East Prelims. Anastasakis will race in the quarterfinal round of the 1,500-meters beginning at 5:45 p.m. while Scolasticah Kemei rounds out the Elon competitors in the 5,000-meters at 8:30 p.m.