Eagles Turn in Strong Performances at Two Weekend Track & Field Meets

Despite splitting the team between two different track and field meets this weekend, Emory University athletes were still able to turn in a number of impressive performances at both the Niswonger Invitational and the Tiger Indoor Invitational.

At the East Tennessee State University Niswonger Invitational, a large meet featuring a number of NCAA Division I teams, sophomore Melanie Frank led the way with a winning time of 5:14.29 in the unseeded mile run, while also finishing 14^th in the unseeded 800-meter run with a time of 2:23.98.  Other top times in the distance events came from junior Tess Gallegos, who finished fourth in the unseeded 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:04.75, and junior Sara Gelb, who took 13^th in the unseeded 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:49.24.

In the sprints, junior Alix Dyer was Emory’s top finisher in both the 60-meter dash (50^th place, 8.15 seconds) and the 400-meter dash (35^th place, 60.05 seconds), while senior Alycia Adams finished 60^th in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 26.50 seconds, and junior Laura Lambie-Hanson claimed 37^th-place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.06.

For the Emory men at the Niswonger Invitational, sophomore Stephen Ellwood recorded the Eagles’ top finish, placing fourth in the unseeded 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:55.71, while senior Jason Campbell finished 15^th in the unseeded 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.99.  Other top finishes for the Eagles came from sophomore Isaac Chambers in both the 400-meter run (51^st place, 51.65 seconds) and the 200-meter run (119^th place, 23.88 seconds), and Geraint Davies in the mile run (29^th place, 4:34.68).

The Sewanee Tiger Indoor Invitational consisted of a much smaller group of mostly NCAA Division III competitors.  Junior Jasmine McCullough was Emory’s top-finisher in three events, winning the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 8.83 seconds in the preliminaries, finishing fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.74 seconds, and claiming fifth in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.57 seconds in the preliminaries.  Rounding out the running events for the women, sophomore Alison Browne finished fifth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:06.04, while sophomore Maryclaire Regan finished sixth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11:51.95.

Junior Lauren Attiah claimed a victory in the triple jump with a distance of 11.24 meters, while finishing tied for second in the high jump with teammate and sophomore Theresa Ford each with a mark of 1.52 meters.  Freshman Kadijah Ameen was Emory’s top finisher in the long jump, placing second with a leap of 4.66 meters, and junior Charlotte Diggs’ pole vault of 2.45 meters was good for a third-place finish.  Emory freshman thrower Rasheika Martin rounded out the women’s side of the meet for the Eagles, winning the weight throw with a distance of 10.27 meters, and finishing third in the shot put with a throw of 10.33 meters.

On the men’s side, Emory’s throwers turned in a stellar performance for the second-straight week, as junior Ben Euwer won the shot put with a throw of 13.46 meters, while senior Thomas Bright won the weight throw with a distance of 13.85 meters.  Junior Ian Francis experienced similar success in the horizontal jumps, winning the triple jump with a mark of 13.98 meters, and finishing second in the long jump with a mark of 6.57 meters.  In the vertical jumps, freshman Scott Greathouse was Emory’s top finisher in the high jump, clearing a mark of 1.87 meters for a second-place finish, while sophomore Tony Lombardo also finished second with a launch of 4.25 meters. 

In the running events for the men at the Tiger Indoor Invitational, freshman Courtlandt Perkins was Emory’s top finisher in both the 55-meter dash (fifth place, 6.80 seconds) and the 200-meter dash (third place, 23.77 seconds).  Sophomore Taylor Warren claimed fifth place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.77 seconds, while freshman Diego Flores-Alvarez took second in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:47.33, and senior Everett Bryant placed second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.93 seconds.

After the pair of strong performances this weekend, the Eagles will once again split their squad next weekend for a pair of two-day meets, as Emory will participate in both the Boston University Valentine’s Invitational and the Clemson Tiger Paw Invitational, on February 11^th and 12^th.