ELON, N.C. – The Elon University men's and women's cross country programs begin their 2023 campaign under the lights this Friday, Sept. 1, for its annual meet, the Elon Opener, at the Elon Cross Country Course near the campus' recreational fields.
 
The races begin with the women's 4K at 8:15 p.m. followed by the men's 6K at approximately 8:45 p.m.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
• Live results will be provided and can be found on the Elon cross country schedule page at elonphoenix.com.
 
TEAMS IN COMPETITION
• Along with Elon, the rest of the teams in competition at this Friday's meet include Barton, Campbell, Duke, East Carolina, Fayetteville State, High Point, Meredith, North Carolina A&T, NC State, Rockingham CC, Shaw, UNC Pembroke, UNCW, USC Aiken and Winthrop.
 
ELON WOMEN'S 2023 PREVIEW
• The four-time defending CAA Cross Country champions welcome back 18 harriers from a year ago including each of its runners that competed at last year's championship meet.
• Elon welcomes back All-CAA performers in Madison Synowiec, Leandra Lorenz, Anna Twomey, Katie Blount, and Jette Beermann. Synowiec, Lorenz and Twomey each finished in the top-five at the CAAs last season while Blount and Beermann also garnered top-11 finishes.
• Other notable returning runners include fifth-year athletes Maggie Springer and Hannah Miller.
• Seventh-year Phoenix head coach Kevin Jermyn was selected as the CAA Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season last fall. Along with the program's fourth league title, Jermyn also assisted the Phoenix to a seventh-place standing at the 2022 NCAA Southeast Regionals – the team's best finish at the regional meet since 2015.
 
ELON MEN'S 2023 PREVIEW
• The Elon men's roster returns 11 letterwinners from its squad a season ago including five runners from last year's CAA championship meet.
• Zane Jackson leads the maroon and gold men heading into his senior season. The Charleston, S.C., native was 10^th overall at the CAAs last season to earn all-league recognition for the first time in his career.
• The Phoenix men finished sixth overall at the CAA Championships and concluded its season with a 20^th-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. It was Elon's best finish at the regional championships since 2018.
 
UP NEXT
• The Phoenix will travel to the adidas XC Challenge for its next meet on Friday, Sept. 15 hosted by NC State.