Williamsburg, Va. – Three was the magic number for Elon University track & field Saturday. The Phoenix won its third consecutive CAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship and the team achieved its goal of completing the triple crown – sweeping the women's cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field championships in one year – with one of the most dominant performances in CAA track & field history.
Entering the day with a seven-point lead, Elon ran away with the championship in just three events to open Saturday morning.
Kalli'Ana Botelho broke the school record in the heptathlon and earned CAA runner-up honors followed by the 400 relay team's astonishing meet record performance to win the conference title. Elon then effectively buried the competition as
Leandra Lorenz,
Jette Beermann and
Anna Twomey placed first, second and fourth in the 1500. By the time those three events were completed, Elon's lead was 43 points and the Phoenix was never threatened again.
Elon won the meet by 61 points, scoring 185 team points. Hampton was a distant second with 124 points and host William & Mary was third with 90 points, North Carolina A&T (87), Delaware (78.5), Northeastern (72) and Towson (70) followed, while Monmouth (41), UNCW (30.5), College of Charleston (20), Stony Brook (15) and Hofstra (6) rounded out the scoring.
Elon's 61-point win was the largest margin of victory at the CAA Championship since William & Mary won the 2003 championship over George Mason by 66.5 points. Combined with Elon's 41-point victory a year ago, the Phoenix have outscored CAA competition by 102 points in the past two years.
With its third consecutive CAA Championship, Elon is the first program to win three straight titles since William & Mary did the same from 2008-10. With the inaugural CAA Indoor Track & Field Championship starting earlier this year, Elon became the first program in conference history to earn the triple crown by winning the women's cross country title in the fall, the indoor track & field championship in the winter, and the outdoor track & field crown in the spring.
TITLE TOWN
- Elon won four event championships on Saturday, giving the Phoenix five titles on the weekend.
- The 400 relay team of Meghan Wilcox, Kalli'Ana Botelho, Piper Jons and Reese Webster set new meet and facility records to win the conference championship in 44.91 seconds. It was the fourth time this year that the quartet has broken Elon's school record.
- Leandra Lorenz doubled up on conference championships for the second year in a row, defending her titles in both the 1500 and the 5000. In the 1500, she beat out teammate Jette Beermann, the CAA's indoor track & field champion in the event, by just over a second. In the 5000, the top four finishers were separated by less than a second as Lorenz overcame William & Mary's Sofia Istnick as well as teammates Katie Blount and Maggie Springer down the home stretch.
- Freshman Reese Webster tied her own school record in the 100 with a time of 11.70 seconds and leaned across the line just ahead of Towson's Maya Tucker for the title.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
- Kalli'Ana Botelho completed a grueling weekend by finishing second in the heptathlon. She set Elon's school record by scoring 5,091 points. Botelho set new personals bests in two of the three events competed in Saturday – the javelin and the 800.
- Botelho also ran the finals of the 100 hurdles and competed in the high jump Saturday. In the 100 hurdles, she set a new personal best time of 14.08 seconds to place fifth and move to third in school history. She also ended sixth in the high jump, clearing 5-feet-3 (1.60m).
- Linn Hertz Saebboe set a new personal best on her final attempt of triple jump, vaulting into second place late. She jumped 40-5 (12.32m) and ranks third in school history in the event.
- In the discus, Elon earned seven points behind fifth and sixth place finishes from Kaitlin McGoogan, who won the hammer throw championship Friday, and Chelsea Wallace. Wallace's distance of 154-5 (47.08m) was a new season-best.
- Lizzie Lopez tied her personal best in high jump, clearing 5-3 (1.60m) to place seventh overall.
UP NEXT
- Elon will compete in last chance meets next weekend with locations yet to be determined.
- Following that, Elon will take qualifiers to the NCAA East Region Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla. May 24-27.
CAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship
Elon 185, Hampton 124, William & Mary 90, North Carolina A&T 87, Delaware 78.5, Northeastern 72, Towson 70, Monmouth 41, UNCW 30.5, College of Charleston 20, Stony Brook 15, Hofstra 6
100 – 1.
Reese Webster 11.70, 3.
Meghan Wilcox 11.87
200 – 4.
Reese Webster 23.99, 6.
Piper Jons 24.13, 8.
Meghan Wilcox 24.54
400 – 5.
Piper Jons 54.26
800 – 4.
Stephanie Lair 2:09.72, 7.
Alison Hodgson 2:15.02
1500 – 1.
Leandra Lorenz 4:36.60, 2.
Jette Beermann 4:37.61, 4.
Anna Twomey 4:37.91, 10.
Jasmine Young 4:43.99
5000 – 1.
Leandra Lorenz 16:33.61, 3.
Katie Blount 16:34.08, 4.
Maggie Springer 16:34.11, 8.
Jette Beermann 16:50.15, 9.
Madison Synowiec 16:50.24
100 hurdles – 5.
Kalli'Ana Botelho 14.08
400 hurdles – 8.
Riley Drometer 1:02.23
400 relay – 1.
Meghan Wilcox,
Kalli'Ana Botelho,
Piper Jons,
Reese Webster 44.91
1600 relay – 7.
Aliya Barrows,
Riley Drometer,
Reese Webster,
Piper Jons 3:47.87
Triple jump – 2.
Linn Hertz Saebboe 40-5 (12.32m)
High jump – 6.
Kalli'Ana Botelho 5-3 (1.60m), 7.
Lizzie Lopez 5-3 (1.60m), t9.
Hannah Schonhoff 5-1 (1.55m)
Shot put – 10.
Chelsea Wallace 43-9.75 (13.35m), 16.
Lauryn Carlton 41-7 (12.67m), 18.
Tristin Oberg 31-6.5 (9.61m)
Discus – 5.
Kaitlin McGoogan 156-9 (47.79m), 6.
Chelsea Wallace 154-5 (47.08m), 15.
Lauryn Carlton 130-1 (39.64m), 18.
Tristin Oberg 127-2 (38.77m)
Heptathlon – 2.
Kalli'Ana Botelho 5,091, 7.
Hollie Thurgood 4,177
Hep. Long Jump – 2.
Kalli'Ana Botelho 18-4.5 (5.60m), 8.
Hollie Thurgood 16-3.75 (4.97m)
Hep. Javelin – 1.
Hollie Thurgood 109-1 (33.25m), 4.
Kalli'Ana Botelho 88-6 (26.97m)
Hep. 800 – 3.
Kalli'Ana Botelho 2:24.84, 10.
Hollie Thurgood 2:42.82