Looking to close out their careers by going five-for-five in CAA championship victories, Elon’s fifth-year runners – Hannah Miller, Leandra Lorenz, Maggie SpringerÌý²¹²Ô»å Anna Twomey – felt the weight of expectations as they stepped to the starting line.

“Having won so many championships, it gives you confidence but it does build pressure,” Twomey said. “The team is really good about never taking any of the wins for granted and never getting comfortable.”

Despite Elon’s championship pedigree, victory in this year’s race was not a guarantee for the maroon and gold. With stiff competition in Stony Brook and Northeastern, the leaders for the Phoenix knew they would have to bring their best to defend their crown again.

“This year, I felt the most pressure to win,” Lorenz said. “We also knew there were two other teams that were really strong this year. It was not super safe to say in the beginning that we would win.”

But this day in October, this hunt for an unprecedented fifth-straight conference championship, may not have seemed possible for these fifth-year runners when they stepped on campus as first-year students. Before this program and class of runners were rattling off conference championships, Elon cross country had never reached such heights.

This group of fifth years has helped the program become a powerhouse and none of them could pass up the chance for one last season together and secure a CAA cross country ring for each finger.

Laying The Foundation

Soccer was Miller’s first sport growing up, but as she prepared to make the move to middle school after transferring, she took advice from her dad and joined the school’s cross country team to make friends.

“When it came time to look at colleges, I knew that I probably couldn’t play soccer in college, whereas I had a chance to run in college,” Miller said.

As Miller, a native of Harrisonburg, Virginia, began the college recruiting process, she was impressed by Elon and head coach Kevin Jermyn, who took over both the university’s men’s and women’s programs in 2017. Prior to his time at Elon, Jermyn spent 14 years as the head coach at Duke, racking up individual accolades and honors while helping Duke to a pair of podium finishes at the NCAA Championships.

After taking visits at other schools, Miller appreciated the individualization of Jermyn’s training programs, which are tailored to meet the needs of each athlete.

“At a lot of schools I would notice they had a lot of injured athletes, or that their slowest athletes and their fastest athletes were doing all of their training the same, but Kevin has every single person on the team do their own training plan,” Miller said. “I feel like that’s such an important thing with running to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your training and not getting injured.”

Springer followed a similar path as Miller, as she played middle school soccer in the spring while running cross country in the fall. As she moved up to high school, Springer, a Chapel Hill, North Carolina, native, committed to running to have a shot at competing in college.

On her visit to Elon, one of the runners showed Springer their individualized training guide, which impressed her. She was also enamored with Jermyn’s organization and attention to detail, things that were lacking on her visits to other schools.

“I remember on my visit with Kevin, he had such a detailed itinerary and that always stuck in the back of my mind,” Springer said. “He had everything laid out, almost by the hour, of what I would be doing, who I would be with, the classes I’d be going to, which I thought was awesome.”

While Springer liked what the cross country program had to offer, she also has family ties to Elon, as her dad, Rob Springer, works as the university’s executive director of institutional effectiveness.

“For the longest time I tried to push off Elon so I wouldn’t follow the footsteps of my family,” Springer laughed. “But, at the end of the day, I knew I would end up here.”

Like Miller and Springer, Twomey also played multiple sports growing up. In seventh grade, Twomey, who hails from Berwyn, Pennsylvania, decided to give track a try. Through her junior year in high school, Twomey was a sprinter, but after giving up soccer, she decided to switch to long-distance running and joined her school’s cross country team.

“I enjoyed it a lot more and I was better at it than I was at sprinting,” Twomey said.

In addition to Jermyn’s training philosophies and meticulous approach, Twomey respected how he connected with his athletes.

“Immediately talking to him, he showed interest in me as a person and an athlete, which I feel like you don’t get with every school,” Twomey said.

Growing up in Germany, Lorenz was a track and field athlete from the time she was in second grade. Until age 15, Lorenz did throwing, jumping, running and sprinting, but she knew she had the most potential in running.

Lorenz learned that running in college in the U.S. was an option and got a call from Elon, among other schools. After talking to Jermyn, she knew Elon was the right fit for her.

“I could immediately tell that he cares a lot about each athlete as an individual and I heard from him immediately that he wanted me to grow as an athlete in the long term,” Lorenz said. “He has long-term goals and the athlete’s health and happiness in his mind first and foremost.”

Elon was a solid performer in the CAA before Jermyn took over the program but was never a serious threat to perennial contenders like the College of William & Mary and James Madison University. However, from the time she was being recruited, Miller could sense the culture Jermyn was trying to build would lead to both individual and team success.

“It has always been one of his main points of pride,” Miller said. “You don’t have to be the fastest runner, you just need to be someone who loves running and who puts commitment into what you do. That’s the kind of culture that he was looking to build, and I really do think I’ve seen that get stronger and stronger every year we’ve been here.”

Blossoming Dynasty

Elon arrived at the 2019 CAA Cross Country Championships in New Market, Virginia, after one of the strongest regular seasons in school history. Winners of three regular season events, the Phoenix had its eyes on its first CAA title.

The maroon and gold was also coming off an agonizing runner-up finish at the event in 2018 by a margin of two points to William & Mary. As a first-year student-athlete, Twomey was aware of how important that year’s race was for the program.

“We heard all the stories coming in from all the older girls,” Twomey said. “Conference was the big thing everyone was so excited for.”

Springer and Twomey, along with Maria Ahm, were Elon’s three first-year members of the team competing in the race. Ahm and Springer both scored for the Phoenix in a convincing 21-point victory over Delaware as the program secured its first conference championship.

“Coming into the program, I heard about all these goals we had since we weren’t a team that was consistently winning championships yet, but Kevin had that as his vision,” Springer said. “It was a super exciting day to see all the upperclassmen be so excited to finally get that title.”

From the time they were freshmen, the four fifth-year runners were pivotal in turning Jermyn’s vision for the program into a reality. Being committed to training, eating right, sleeping enough, recovering well and establishing positive relationships with teammates were among the factors Lorenz said have been key in Elon’s success as a program.

“Our team culture has gone a long way since winning the first CAA cross country title,” Lorenz said. “2019 was probably the most scary thing because the team had never done that, but at the same time, our confidence grew because of that. We knew we had done it and we knew what we would need to do in order to win a CAA cross country championship.”

The 2019 championship was just the beginning of Elon’s reign atop the conference. Even with elevated expectations, pressure and a target on their back, the maroon and gold kept winning, and doing so by big margins.

A 51-point CAA championship victory in the spring of 2021 (the 2020 fall season was postponed to the spring due to COVID-19) was followed by 39-point margin in the fall of 2021. The Phoenix four-peated in 2022, winning by 19 points. During the run of four straight team championships from 2019-22, Elon also had three women win the individual CAA title.

Although Elon has made winning conference championships look easy, each season brought its own set of adversities and challenges that made each title unique. Whether dealing with injuries, illnesses or overcoming stiff competition from conference foes, Elon has found ways to win CAA titles even when it looked like they might be upset.

“Every single one has been so exciting because a lot of people assume, ‘You’ve won a lot so it’s really easy,’ and it’s really not,” Twomey said. “There were a lot of times where we were not projected to win and we’ve really had to rally everyone together. We’ve pulled off some things that, on paper, we shouldn’t have. It’s been really great to see that no one takes it for granted.”

‘Grandma’ Year

After Elon won its first CAA title in 2019, the newest members of the team felt an internal pressure to build on that triumph.

“There was kind of this unspoken pressure that was like, ‘OK, we won, we should keep winning,'” Springer said. “We’ve reached a point now where it would be devastating if we didn’t win a championship.”

The group of Miller, Lorenz, Springer and Twomey all came in together in 2019. All four decided to take a fifth and final year at Elon in 2023, meaning the streak of CAA titles would have to extend from four to five to satisfy their drive for greatness.

Referring to themselves as the “grandmas” of the team this year, all four were excited about the chance to compete together again in their final season of cross country in the fall and track in the spring.

“Being here with this group of people for another year is honestly like a dream,” Springer said. “To keep helping the team get these titles and furthering the culture that we started our freshman year has really meant a lot to me.”

“I have a lot of fun being on this team and training here,” Lorenz said. “You wake up, do your training, go to class and there’s not a lot to stress about.”

“I feel like I only have once in my life to be in a situation like this and be able to focus on just running, school and my friends, and I really enjoy it,” Twomey said. “I also feel like there’s more that I want to accomplish. This has felt like home over the last five years and these are the people I want to finish it out with.”

“I absolutely was excited when I had the opportunity to do a fifth year, especially as the people we were graduating with were going off and applying for jobs and everything, I just thought it would be really fun to stay here and play college student for a little bit longer,” Miller said.

Since this class arrived at Elon, the team has never had more than two fifth-year runners on its roster at a time. All four runners acknowledged that knowing they would all be back for a fifth year together helped make their decision to return.

“I never would’ve been the only one to stay,” Miller said. “In a hypothetical situation, I don’t know if I would’ve done it.”

Elon had another successful regular season in 2023 with two victories leading into the CAA Championship but the four fifth-year runners had very different experiences. Lorenz and Twomey missed most of the regular season with injuries, with both returning in time to compete at the CAA Championship.

Lorenz, who earned All-CAA honors each of the prior three seasons, dealt with an injured heel throughout the season. She made her season debut at the prestigious Nuttycombe Invitational but began to have more sharp pain in her heel the week of the conference meet.

“On race day, I didn’t even warm up running,” Lorenz said. “I warmed up on the bike and kind of walked from the bike to the starting line, not knowing how the race would go.”

At around the midway point of the race, Lorenz felt the pain in her heel worsen but it did not slow her down, as she gritted her way to a fourth-place finish and a fourth straight All-CAA result.

“I knew my score would be important so I kept running through the pain and finished the race. I couldn’t walk after,” Lorenz said. “For this team, you sometimes sacrifice yourself a little bit. It was a good and painful experience.”

Twomey did not appear in a meet in 2023 until the CAA Championship but did not miss a beat in Elon’s most important race. She narrowly missed out on earning All-CAA honors for the third time in her career by placing 17th.

Even though Twomey was unable to have the season she wanted due to injuries, she knew the team’s depth would pick her up.

“We’ve gotten to a place where I know everybody else is going to do their jobs and do things to the best of their ability and it’s so good that we have such a great culture like that,” Twomey said. “This was probably a harder season for me, but being around all of my teammates made it a lot easier.”

Springer arrived at the CAA Championship coming off a strong regular season that included a top-10 at the adidas XC Challenge, which helped Elon win as a team. With an 11th place finish at the CAA Championship, Springer scored for the Phoenix and joined Lorenz with the fourth All-CAA result of her career.

“This sport is so anxiety-inducing and honestly, every time I’m on the start line, I’m questioning my existence and why I’m there,” Springer said. “But then after the race, it’s the feeling of satisfaction and knowing that you did something that was so painful and hard.”

Miller’s final season with the maroon and gold was highlighted by a top-five finish at the Winthrop/Adidas Invitational, which helped the Phoenix secure a victory. While Miller did not score for Elon at the CAA Championship, the team’s depth gave her peace of mind throughout the week.

“Going into a race, especially a high-stakes race, you’ve got this immense personal pressure of living up to your own expectations and living up to the expectations of the team. With our group this year, I feel like one of the things that’s really special,” Miller said. “We don’t have the same five girls scoring in every race. As someone who didn’t score at conference, I knew going into conference that I had a lot of confidence in all of my team members and that we had a lot of girls who are capable of really great things.”

As a team, Elon got off to an uncharacteristically slow start in the championship race and trailed in the early stages. However, the maroon and gold rallied to secure a comfortable 19-point victory, becoming the second school in CAA history to win at least five consecutive women’s championships.

“This one definitely meant a lot because I feel like this season, we’ve dealt with a lot of injuries and a lot of adversity,” Twomey said. “We were just very good about having good vibes and being supportive of each other.”

While this group of fifth years has closed the chapter on their cross country careers, they still have Elon’s track & field season to look forward to as they compete together for the final time. They will look to help the Phoenix secure its second consecutive Triple Crown by defending both the CAA indoor and outdoor track & field titles.

Not only has the group been pivotal in turning Elon’s cross country into a CAA dynasty, they will also be leaving the program in a better place than they found it. With a talented class of underclassmen runners, Elon’s days of contending CAA championships appear far from over.

“I had to come to terms with the fact this summer that I was a fifth-year captain who has done well on this team who was probably going to show up to the first day of practice and get their butt kicked by a freshman because we just recruited such amazing girls this year,” Miller said.

“They’re such a strong class,” Twomey added. “I think it’s going to be crazy to see where the team is four years from now.”

In addition to Jermyn, the fifth years credited assistant coach Alaric Gwynn, who has been with them since their freshman season, for helping the program become what it is today.

“We’re really lucky because both of them go above and beyond in every aspect and have really done such a good job of making this place feel like home and making the team what it is today,” Twomey said.

From warming up in a camping tent to stay out of the rain at NCAA Southeast Regionals, carrying stationary bikes up and down a hotel elevator at this year’s CAA Championships, taking 11-hour bus rides to get to and from events across the country and being the only team talking in the start box moments before the Nuttycombe, the memories made with Elon cross country by these fifth years will last a lifetime.

“We do a really good job of turning chaos into fun,” Springer said. “Honestly, they’re kind of interchangeable terms on our team.”

—

‘Rising Phoenix’ is a new student-led initiative to cover Elon Athletics. Through innovative content creation and storytelling, 51±¬ÁÏÍø 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 Ìý²¹²Ô»å . Interested in joining this initiative as a content creator (video, graphics, writing, storytelling, or more)? Contact Jacob Kisamore at jkisamore@elon.edu.

After spending more than 10 years at Miami, Strawley was hired as the 20th Director of Athletics at 51±¬ÁÏÍø on July 6 and will officially begin the role on Aug. 1.

For Strawley, picking a school that aligned with her personal values was essential, as was finding a place where she could help elevate an athletics department. She said she checked all those boxes with Elon.

“I always believed I wanted to be an athletic director, but it needed to be at the right place,” Strawley said. “I’ve been incredibly selective. It was a special place that was going to call me away, and when I first started to have conversations with individuals about Elon it became clear very quickly how special Elon is.”

During her time at Miami, Strawley oversaw all day-to-day operations of the athletics department and served as the sport administrator for football and women’s basketball, as well as the department’s Senior Woman Administrator. Strawley also served as Miami’s interim athletics director from November to December 2021.

Strawley said her experience at Miami helped her learn about leadership styles, managing different aspects of an athletic department, working with coaches, engaging with donors and understanding strategic decisions.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with two presidents in Donna Shalala and Julio Frenk, and with two athletic directors in Blake James and Dan Radakovich,” Strawley said. “Their guidance, mentorship and trust has really prepared me for this opportunity.”

Strawley was a student-athlete herself at the University of Pennsylvania. A two-time team captain for the Quakers softball team, Strawley also worked in Penn’s athletic department while a student. She earned an undergraduate degree in history and originally planned on attending law school. However, after a stint working for the NCAA as an intern and then managing student-athlete eligibility and reinstatement, Strawley’s plans shifted.

“When I got to the NCAA, I realized you could have this career that really centers around developing young people and being engaged in intercollegiate athletics in a different way,” Strawley said.

In between stints working for the NCAA, Strawley moved on to Columbia University, where she worked as the associate athletics director for Intercollegiate Sports Programs and the Senior Woman Administrator responsible for sport supervision duties and providing oversight for Title IX and gender equity issues.

Strawley indicated that what drives her every day is supporting student-athletes, working with both men and women to prepare them for life beyond their time at Elon. However, because of her experience as a student-athlete, ensuring there are opportunities for female student-athletes is important to her.

“There’s a personal piece for me in understanding what a college athletic experience does in preparing young women for success in their life and their ability to create that self-confidence and understanding of what it takes to be successful,” Strawley said.

Strawley will begin her first athletic director job in a unique time in college sports. With the transfer portal and Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) changing the landscape, she said keeping Elon competitive will take plans tailor-made to the university as there is not one solution that will succeed at every school.

“As we begin to move forward and try to understand what intercollegiate athletics looks in the future, we have to be proactive in how we think about what’s best for Elon,” Strawley said. “We have to be innovative and creative, understanding the impact, but we have to be committed to the values of Elon. I’m confident we’ll be able to work together to chart a path and position for success in this ever-changing world.”

For Strawley, the first few months on the job will be about listening and collaborating with Elon stakeholders to build on the foundation and set a strategic path forward. But, she indicated there are some priorities that will be foundational.

“Student-athletes will be at the center of all decisions we make. We will ensure that Elon continues to set the standard for academic excellence within the CAA. We’ll excel athletically and position our teams to be successful within the CAA and to win CAA championships. We will engage with the Elon community, energize the Elon brand, and create pathways for the institution at-large,” Strawley said. “We want to be bold and position Elon for success in the ever-changing world of intercollegiate athletics, but all of that has to be done while staying committed to the values of Elon and keeping integrity at the cornerstone of everything we do.”

Working closely with student-athletes is a huge part of Strawley’s passion for college athletics. As she begins her tenure, she has a message for Elon’s student-athletes and said her door will always be open to them.

“To all the student-athletes, I can’t wait to get to know you, to share in your journey and to be a part of all that you will accomplish in your time at Elon,” Strawley said. “I’m committed to you. I will get up every day to serve you and to ensure that we provide the best possible student-athlete experience each and every day. What we do will always be about our student-athletes.”

In addition to connecting with student-athletes, getting Elon students invested in athletics is another priority for Strawley. She hopes to build on the current level of engagement for students to make athletic events an important part of their experience at Elon.

“I want athletics to be a piece that people take pride in and that individuals want to be a part of,” Strawley said. “Student engagement is critically important to not only the success of Elon athletics, but I think what we do in athletics can create synergies for the institution at-large as we continue to evolve and move forward.”

As she looks forward to a new chapter at Elon, Strawley said she is excited about many aspects of her upcoming endeavor. However, nothing excites her more than the people she will get to work with and the student-athletes she will get to serve.

“I’m just so energized by all the people that I’ve met,” Strawley said. “I’m really excited to get to know so many individuals who are so passionate about Elon and to really become a part of the Elon community. I can’t wait to embark on this journey that will help chart a course to allow Elon to soar to new heights.”

Somers, who played at Elon from 2009 to 2014, became a father for the first time two days before flying to New Mexico to play in the tournament. John and wife Catherine, another Elon alumna, welcomed daughter Colbie on April 25, just five days before the event was scheduled to begin.

The due date for Colbie’s birth was May 17 but Somers said the early birth was a “blessing in disguise” as it meant he would no longer have to worry about missing her birth while competing at a tournament. After spending some time in the neonatal intensive care unit, Colbie was able to come home with no health issues, which gave Somers the peace of mind he needed to compete at the PGA Professional Championship.

“I wasn’t even expecting to play,” Somers said. “It had always been on my mind, am I going to miss the birth of my baby? It worked out where the baby came and I got to be there with my wife and then welcome my little girl knowing that my wife and the baby are healthy and she’s got a huge family support system, which made me very comfortable and know that I can go out there and play golf and not have to worry about anything.”

Somers works as the head PGA professional at the Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Fla. Among his duties include golf shop and staff oversight and running tournaments hosted by the club.

The PGA Professional Championship is a tournament for golf club professionals and teachers who are members of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America. This year, over 300 players competed, with the top 20 finishers earning spots at the PGA Championship, one of the four major tournaments in men’s golf.

During one of his practice rounds in the leadup to the tournament, Somers wrote Colbie’s name on a golf ball to honor his first daughter. However, he quickly had to alter his tribute upon teeing off.

“I lost it on that same hole and I felt so guilty and so bad about it,” Somers said. “I was like, maybe a golf ball’s not a thing to do. So, I started writing it on my glove right below my thumb so that way I can always see it. It’s just a really great tribute for her and hopefully, I can make her proud.”

After shooting a 68 in both the second and third rounds, Somers shared the 54-hole lead. Although he did not win the tournament after a final-round 73, Somers easily secured a spot in this week’s PGA Championship by tying for fourth.

Somers said he did not have a chance to reflect on qualifying for the PGA Championship following the round due to his media obligations and thinking about seeing his family.

“I was just so focused on getting back home and being with my daughter and my wife. It wasn’t really until probably Saturday or Sunday when I started getting all the emails and I’m looking at flights and hotels,” Somers said. “That’s when it kind of hit me like, oh man, I’m actually doing this. I’m playing a major.”

A graduate of Bartlett Yancey High School, located just over 30 minutes from Elon, Somers had a prolific college career with the Phoenix. He was named the team’s most valuable player in both 2013 and 2014 and won the 2014 Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational. He credited his time at Elon for helping him develop as a player.

“College golf is always special because it’s really your last time for a lot of people to experience a team atmosphere,” Somers said. “I made lifelong friends. We played some great golf courses. I had two great coaches with Bill Morningstar and Don Hill. It definitely shaped me into the player I am today.”

Somers has played tournaments on the PGA Latinoamerica and the Korn Ferry Tour, the direct feeder tour for the PGA Tour, but this will be his first appearance at a major championship. The event will be held at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, New York, on May 18-21. The course has hosted six major championships, including three PGA Championships, most recently in 2013.

To prepare for the event, Somers said he has spent time watching highlights from the 2013 PGA Championship and other videos overviewing the course. Despite this being his first appearance in a major, Somers said he has high expectations for the week.

“I’d love to win it,” Somers said.”That’s the thing I always tell myself – don’t enter a tournament unless you want to win it.”

Somers will play with Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Chez Reavie, who have combined to win six tournaments on the PGA and DP World Tours, in the first two days. They will tee off in the opening round on Thursday, May 18, at 1:14 p.m. and on Friday, May 19, at 7:49 a.m. The tournament will air on ESPN, ESPN+ and CBS throughout the week.