Elon Track & Field Opens Indoor Season at Liberty Kick Off
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Elon track & field team opened its 2010-11 indoor season at the Liberty Kick Off today taking home four titles and breaking a five-year school record.
The 4x400-meter relay team, consisting of senior Sarah Skogen, junior Lauren Wilmer, senior Melissa Turowski and junior Amy Salek, took first with a time of 3:56.90.
Elon swept the podium in the 400-meter dash with freshman Bria Bell taking the top spot with a time of 58.55. Bell was followed in by Salek at 59.03 and freshman Veronica Luedke at 59.42. Wilmer and Skogen rounded out the top five with times of 59.92 and 1:00.05, respectively.
Senior Veronica Day started off the season strong taking home titles in both the long jump and the triple jump. Day recorded a distance of 18'9.25" in the long jump and 38'7.5" in the triple jump.
Bell was the top finisher for the Phoenix in the 200-meter dash crossing the finish line at 25.90 for a new school record. The previous record of 26.14 was set five years earlier in 2005. Freshman Kayleigh Birks (26.15), junior Dana Caltado (26.32), Salek (26.41), Luedke (26.43) and sophomore Brittany Wilkins (26.64) finished one after another in the same event for spots four through eight.
In the high jump, junior Jordan Lee took fourth with a jump of 5'3", as senior Courtney Weathers finished in seventh with her jump of 5'1".
Following Day in the long jump was Wilkins with a leap of 18'1.75" for a third-place finish and senior Lauren Hawkesworth with a jump of 17'2" to finish eighth. Also competing in the triple jump, Hawkesworth finished fourth (36'9.75), Wilkins took fifth (36'3.5") and sophomore Janelle McNeil sixth (35'3.25").
Freshman Charlise Morgan recorded a distance of 40'6" in the shot put for a third-place finish, while senior Justine Robertson finished in fifth (40'1.25").
Junior Alyssa Girvin was the top Elon finisher in the weight throw with a distance of 44'6.25" to take seventh. Robertson finished ninth with a throw of 41'11.25"
The Elon track & field team will continue its indoor season on Jan. 22 when it travels to Morgantown, W. Va., for the State Farm Games.