Four programs were recognized with major award winners in a reveal of the Colonial Athletic Association Women’s Track and Field postseason honors as voted by the league’s head coaches.
Among the runners, Elon’s Leandra Lorenz was named CAA Women’s Track Athlete of the Year, and Emily Ervin of William & Mary earned CAA Women’s Rookie of the Year accolades. In the field, a pair of student-athletes shared honors as Dominique Biron of Northeastern and Towson’s Hayley Horvath collected CAA Women’s Co-Field Athlete of the Year recognition. After leading Elon to back-to-back team titles, Mark Elliston was pegged as the CAA Women’s Track and Field Coach of the Year by his peers.
Lorenz is the second Elon runner in as many seasons to earn CAA Track Athlete of the Year accolades. The Kleinmachnow, Germany native was also named the CAA Championship Most Outstanding Track Performer after winning the 1500m and 5000m to lead Elon to its second straight team title. Lorenz was an NCAA East Region qualifier in the 1500m, recording the event’s top time in the conference this season with a personal-best 4:19.73.
Horvath adds to her collection of CAA honors, earning CAA Field Athlete of the Year for the second straight season after receiving Rookie of the Year accolades in 2019. The Princeton, N.J. native was the CAA Champion in the pole vault for the third consecutive year, remaining undefeated in her career at the conference championships. Horvath qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries, placing 13th in the pole vault, the highest finish of any CAA student-athlete. She had a season-best clearance of 4.21m (13-09.75), recording the top mark in the CAA by 30 centimeters. In addition, Horvath was the ECAC Champion in the pole vault, totaling four individual victories this season.
Biron was a CAA Champion in two events, setting a meet record in the heptathlon (5,279 pts) to win gold and claiming the high jump crown. She also earned All-CAA honors with a third-place finish in the long jump and scored in the javelin. The junior multi went on to win the heptathlon at the NECIAAA Championships in postseason action. Biron set the top marks in the CAA this season with a 5,473-point performance in the heptathlon and clearing 1.72m (5-07.75) in the high jump. Biron broke the Northeastern program record in the heptathlon four times this spring, including her personal-best mark, which finished the year ranked 13th in the NCAA East Region and 37th nationally.
Ervin is the first Tribe student-athlete to earn CAA Rookie of the Year accolades since 2013 and fifth in program history. She earned All-CAA honors in three events at the CAA Championships, finishing third in the 200m and 400m before helping William & Mary to a second-place finish in the 4x400m relay. Additionally, Ervin set William & Mary program records in each respective event, running 23.92 in the 200m, 54.69 in the 400m and anchored a 4x400m relay squad that ran 3:40.07. Ervin ranked second in the CAA with her season-best mark in the 200m and third in the 400m, while William & Mary’s 4x400m relay team was the fastest in the conference this season by over five seconds.
Elliston receives CAA Coach of the Year honors for the second consecutive season, collecting the fourth accolades of his tenure. Under his leadership, Elon scored 195 points to defend its CAA title and become the first repeat champion since 2015-16. It was the most points scored at the conference championship meet since 2005 and the largest margin of victory since 2009. The Phoenix had 16 student-athletes earn All-CAA honors, the most of any team, including six CAA Champions (800m, 1500m, 5000m, 10,000m, 100m hurdles, 4x400m relay).
The following student-athletes earned All-CAA honors for placing top three in their respective event(s) at the 2022 CAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
2022 Women’s Track & Field All-CAA Honorees
100m: Crystal Johnson, Towson (11.76); Aja Davis, Delaware (11.83); Meghan Wilcox, Elon (11.92)
200m: Crystal Johnson, Towson (24.04); Halima Scott, Delaware (24.41), Emily Ervin, William & Mary (24.50)
400m: Halima Scott, Delaware (54.19); Piper Jons, Elon (54.48); Emily Ervin, William & Mary (54.69)
800m: Stephanie Lair, Elon (2:11.65); Jessica Harding, Delaware (2:12.56); Anna Twomey, Elon (2:12.57)
1500m: Leandra Lorenz, Elon (4:35.72); Anna Twomey, Elon (4:35.94); Ava Duggan, Northeastern (4:36.90)
5000m: Leandra Lorenz, Elon (16:37.68); Susanna Weir, Delaware (16:39.85); Maria Ahm, Elon (16:44.19)
10,000m: Maria Ahm, Elon (35:13.09); Maggie Springer, Elon (35:15.83); Sarah Daniels, Delaware (35:26.85)
100m Hurdles: Alyssa Sandy, Elon (13.83); Isabelle Dely, Northeastern (14.27); Deborah Gnoumou, Towson (14.84)
400m Hurdles: Makenzie Joiner, William & Mary (1:02.86); Carly Schmidt, Delaware (1:03.47); Clare Howard, William & Mary (1:04.94)
3000m Steeplechase: Tina Capparell, Delaware (10:22.95); Hannah Miller, Elon (10:44.42); Azza Borovicka-Swanson, Northeastern (10:47.01)
4x100m Relay: Delaware (Trinity Tapper, Kamylin Padgham, Shylehn Ebuenga-Smith, Aja Davis) | 45.68
UNCW (Janiyah Fields, Brynn Sheffield, Destiny Smith, Courtney Lines) | 46.28
Elon (Meghan Wilcox, Alyssa Sandy, Piper Jons, Jordan Haywood) | 46.39
4x400m Relay: Elon (Aliya Barrows, Tessa DiPierdomenico, Meghan Wilcox, Piper Jons) | 3:45.31
William & Mary (Carly Swierbut, Mary Gregory, Grace Bir, Emily Ervin) | 3:46.46
Delaware (Halima Scott, Alicia Lehman, Jessica Harding, Alyssa Armor) | 3:49.30
High Jump: Dominique Biron, Northeastern (1.65m); Destiny DeBlock, Delaware (J1.60m); Madeline Norr, UNCW (J1.60m)
Long Jump: Courtney Lines, UNCW (5.89m); Alicia Lehman, Delaware (5.86m); Dominique Biron, Northeastern (5.81m)
Triple Jump: Jayda Hunter, UNCW (11.92m); Megan Heidebrecht, William & Mary (11.82m); Victoria Whimple, UNCW (11.82m)
Pole Vault: Hayley Horvath, Towson (4.00m); Millie Klefsaas, Towson (3.80m); Luzy Lieger, Charleston (J3.80m)
Shot Put: Keeley Suzenski, William & Mary (14.91m); Kayla Thorpe, Towson (14.05m); Lauryn Carlton, Elon (13.75m)
Discus: Fatimah Owens, Towson (47.43m); Chelsea Wallace, William & Mary (46.29m); Abigail Klinge, Northeastern (45.33m)
Hammer Throw: Georgia Coleman, Towson (57.88m); Chioma Njoku, Delaware (57.63m); Kaitlin McGoogan, Elon (56.91m)
Javelin: Megan Albamonti, Delaware (55.78m); Kristen Herr, William & Mary (45.19m); Kayla Thorpe, Towson (44.38m)
Heptathlon: Dominique Biron, Northeastern (5,279 pts); Destiny DeBlock, Delaware (4,382 pts); Hollie Thurgood, Elon (4,296 pts)
Source: https://caasports.com/news/2022/6/18/track-and-field-four-womens-programs-recognized-with-major-award-winners-in-caa-track-field-postseason-accolades.aspx
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