ELON, N.C. – As senior
Piper Jons headed into the last straightaway in Saturday's 400-meter dash at the CAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship, she only had one thought on her mind.
"This is the time to do it," Jons said.
Trailing several competitors, Jons needed to find a second gear to give herself an edge in the race. She said she could not help but feed off the home crowd – comprising close friends, family and many Phoenix faithful – at the Robertson Track and Field Complex, even though she said that is atypical behavior for herself.
"I normally block out the crowd, I actually heard it this time," Jons said. "And it was like, 'Oh my gosh, all these people are cheering for me, I need to go.'"
"I honestly give it all to the crowd," Jons added. "I've never been so motivated in a race before."
As she crossed the finish line in first place notching a time of 53.10 seconds, Jons knew exactly what she just accomplished. She achieved a goal that she had been working toward ever since she stepped on campus at Elon.
"I really wanted this 53," Jons said. "I've been going after this for years now."
"I ran a 55 [during my] freshman year and I was like, 'Wow, I can really do this, I can really keep improving and see what I can do with the school records,'" Jons said. "Ever since I ran a 54-zero last April, I was like 'I know I can run a 53-nine.'"
Jons' 53.10 destroyed her previous personal record of 54.02 by almost an entire second. On top of a PR, her name now sits alone atop the Elon 400-meter dash record book, as her time surpassed Bria Bell's previous record of 53.95, which was a decade old.
"This was the one school record I really, really wanted before I left," Jons said. "And what better way to end my season than to do it here?"
On top of shattering several records, Jons also took home her first-ever individual outdoor CAA championship victory. Through her first three years competing in the 400 at the CAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Jons finished second, fifth and second. She explained that winning at home will forever give her championship victory a special feeling.
"Last meet at Elon, no better way to end it than to get first place," Jons said.
Standing atop the podium, Jons' emotions had made a heel turn from the height of her nerves minutes earlier. She said her pre-race intensity sometimes manifests itself abnormally.
"If you know me, you know that I sometimes cry before my races, just because I'm very emotionally affected by this competition and the 400 especially," Jons said.
"If I do cry, it means that I care a lot, and it means that I will give it my all," Jons added. "My coach always says, If Piper's crying, she'll probably do well.' I just cried a little bit [before the race], got my nerves out, and then I locked in."
With her victory and PR on Saturday, Jons could qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regionals. Although final qualifiers have yet to be announced, Jons said that she would be thrilled to compete in such an opportunity.
"I would love to go to regionals, I never even knew this was a possibility for me," Jons said.
'Rising Phoenix' is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, Elon University students will have the opportunity to highlight the moments, people and events that make an impact, leveraging the athletic department's various web and social media platforms for distribution. Follow Rising Phoenix on Twitter (@EURisingPhoenix) and Instagram (@elonrisingphoenix). Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.
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