CAA outdoor track championships begin at Elon University in Alamance County
Elon hosted the CAA outdoor championships as its women chased a second straight title and a seventh conference crown at home in Alamance County.
Athletes and fans packed Elon University’s Jerry and Jeanne Robertson Track and Field Complex in Elon as the 2026 CAA Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships opened Friday for a two-day meet that put Alamance County at the center of conference competition.
The championships were scheduled for Friday, May 15, and Saturday, May 16, on the Elon campus, at the facility also identified as Belk Track and White Field. The meet brought together field events, combined events, trials and finals across sprints, hurdles, middle-distance, distance, relays and throws, giving local spectators a rare chance to see a full conference championship in their own backyard.
CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio used the stage to frame the meet as a showcase for the league’s top athletes. D’Antonio is in his 10th year as commissioner and is only the second person to hold the job in the Coastal Athletic Association’s 40-year history. His current contract extension runs through at least June 30, 2029, underscoring the conference’s stability as it continues to expand its profile.
For Elon, the weekend carried a familiar pressure. The Phoenix women were trying to defend their outdoor title after winning the 2025 championship, and the program entered the meet with six CAA women’s outdoor crowns already on its résumé, the most of any team since Elon joined the conference in 2015. Those titles came in 2015, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025, a run that has made Elon a regular force in the league’s outdoor season.
Last year’s victory came with 147 points, ahead of Hampton’s 122 and North Carolina A&T’s 102, a margin that showed how many events Elon had to win or place high in to pull away. Opening-day coverage suggested the Phoenix remained in the hunt again, with Elon and Northeastern among the strongest teams after the first day of competition.
The meet gave Alamance County an up-close view of a high-level championship that normally belongs to the conference calendar, not a hometown weekend. For two days, the university’s track complex served as the stage for relays, throws and final sprints, with Elon trying to protect its home turf and add another trophy to one of the CAA’s most successful women’s track and field programs.
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