GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sophomore Adriana Clarke of the Elon University women's track and field team took the league title in the hammer throw as the Phoenix opened competition on the first day at the CAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Marcus T. Johnson Stadium at North Carolina A&T.
 
Clarke's performance stood out for the Phoenix on the opening day of the championships, which was marred by several weather delays. Elon scored 44 points on the first day to lead the team standings. The Phoenix also positioned itself for a strong finals day with seven athletes qualifying to the finals.
 
EVENT RUNDOWNS
Hammer Throw – Clarke took the event title in the hammer throw as the Yulee, Fla., native had a toss of 55.94m. Isabella Johnson was fifth overall with her throw of 52.18m, with her new PR moving her to eighth all-time in on the program's all-time performance list.
 
Heptathlon – Lizzie Lopez scored 3,028 points on the first day in the heptathlon, currently in second place. Lopez was third in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.79 before setting a personal-best in the high jump at a cleared height of 1.70m and was second. She earned another second-place finish in the 200-meters with a time of 25.92 before garnering a fifth-place standing in the shot put with a toss of 9.53m.
 
Long Jump – Lopez was also the Phoenix's top athlete in the women's long jump, posting a leap of 5.52m, a new personal-best.
 
1,500-meter (prelims) – In the 1,500-meter prelims, Sarah Petitjean posted a new personal-best time of 4:28.06 and was second overall. She led a trio of Phoenix qualifiers to the finals in Quinn Smith (fourth, 4:33.76) and Abby Beville (ninth, 4:29.19).
 
Javelin – Jacqueline Zacharias had a throw of 37.06m in the javelin, good for sixth overall. Isabella Johnson was eighth with her toss of 33.56m.
 
100-meter hurdles (prelims) - Stavriana Adamou qualified for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles after clocking a time of 14.15.
 
800-meters (prelims) – In the 800-meters, Shayla Cann and Gabi Walker advanced to the final round, with Cann leading Elon in the race with her time of 2:10.87 as the runner-up. Walker crossed the line with her time of 2:11.42, good for third overall.
 
400-meter hurdles (prelims) – Duna Viñals was second in the prelims of the 400-meter hurdles, coming across with a time of 1:00.45 to move to the final round.
 
3,000-meter steeplechase – Amelia Summers was sixth overall in the steeplechase as the Morgantown, W. Va., native ran a new personal-best time of 11:03.17.
 
10,000-meters – In the final event of the night, Elon scored 22 points in the 10,000-meters and saw a couple of runners earn All-CAA accolades. Mikayla Jones was the runner-up in the race after posting a time of 34:37.19. Madison Synowiec was third with her time of 34:43.47, joining Jones to earn medalist and All-CAA honors. Hannah Weber was fourth with her time of 34:45.88 while Mariana Martinez (35:25.71) and Jasmine Young (35:28.87) also scored points for the Phoenix.
 
ON DECK
• The second and final day of the CAA Championships begins tomorrow, May 15, with Elon's first event of the day, the women's pole vault, starting at 9:30 a.m.