After a short of week of rest, the men's and women's track and field teams jumped right back into action this week. The majority of the team ran at the Crossplex Invitational – hosted by Emory – in Birmingham, Ala. on Monday, Jan. 28. The Eagles also sent a group consisting mostly of distance and mid distance runners to the Hilton Garden Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Emory athletes recorded the squad's best marks of the season in nine different events during the meet on Monday.
"I think we were in a real positive mindset," Head Coach John Curtin said. "It is a very fast track and a very exciting venue. We don't really ever see another facility quite like that."
Playing host on an indoor track for the first time in recent history, Emory women scored 90 points to finish behind only Shorter College, while the men notched 95 points to fall shy of Alabama-Huntsville's 97.
"Both teams did a really good job overall at the Crossplex meet because there were only two Division III schools there and the rest were all Division II and even some Division I," Curtin said. "We finished second both the men's and women's meet overall. This was really a tremendous accomplishment."
Freshman Maxwell Hoberman finished fifth in the long jump with a flight of 6.28 meters, over 20 feet. Hoberman also came back to finish ninth in the 200 meter with a time of 23.11 seconds, fifth among United Athletic Association (UAA) competitors this year.
"Max Hoberman is a freshman for us," Curtin said. "The kid is really tough...He is a really stand out kid right now."
Freshman Adam Rabushka added a time of 8.96 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles, the fastest this year among Eagles and third among all University Athletic Association (UAA) competitors.
Notable performance also came from sophomores Tyler Cooke and Kevin Delaney, freshmen Taylor Jarl and Young Jin Kim, and senior Stephen Ellwood, who all managed season best times for Emory men.
One of the highlights of the invitational was sophomore Stephanie Crane's performance. In the 800 meter, Crane ran a 2:15.49, the second fastest time in Emory history.
Senior Theresa Ford added a pair of top Emory marks is season by claiming fifth place in the long jump with a distance of 5.33 meters and second in the high jump soaring to a height of 1.63 meters.
Facing Division II competition, senior Kaele Leonard improved her season best time in the 400 meter to 57.83 seconds, netting her a fifth place finish and fourth fastest time in Emory in history.
At the second of three meets this summer at the JDL Fast Track, the Emory distance runners had several strong outings on both sides as they faced many of their top Division III competitors.
Crane recorded the second fastest time by a UAA competitor this season in the mile run.
Crane finished seventh with a time of 5:07.89.
This marks the fourth best time in Emory history as well as the 17th-best by a Division III runner this season.
"I think everyone was excited to have the opportunity to race this weekend," sophomore Hannah Moriarty said. "UAAs is approaching quickly, so it is especially important to perform at every meet."
Other notable performances came from sophomore Marissa Gogniat, junior Emily Caesar and Moriarty. Gogniat recorded her career best mile time of 5:17.71 receiving 26th place, and Moriarty ran a career-best time of 10:56.35 in the 3,000 meter run.
"This was my first 3k college race so I was excited to see how it felt compared to the 5k," Moriarty said. "It was the shortest race I have run in a while and I was anxious about the speed that the front group would take it out in."
Junior Craig Melissas, Emory's lone men's runner on Friday night, finished 23rd in the 5000 meter run event with a time of 16:11.87.
Junior Edward Mulder recorded an Emory season-best in the mile run, finishing ninth in the event with a time of 4:21.96. Mulder's time is the fourth fastest by a UAA competitor this season.
Additional noteworthy performances occurred in the men's 800 meter run.
Junior Eric Weiner led all the Eagles with a 33rd place finish marking a time of 2:02.78.
Coming right behind him were junior William Matheson 34th finishing with a time of 2:02.12, sophomore Alexander Kim 35th with a time of 2:02.27, and freshman Andrew Hemingway 43rd with a time of 2:04.34.
The Eagles ran at faster speeds this weekend than previous meets.
The higher speeds at this meet will help the Eagles prepare for the shorter distances at future meets and improve.
"Racing the mile this weekend was great because it gave me the chance to adjust to some faster running, which I hope will help me next weekend at Clemson when I race the 3k," Mulder said.
With the UAA championships coming up in just a few short weeks, the Eagles are training harder than ever.
"These meets are crucial," Curtin said. "We have got to be ready to perform now to get ourselves ready for the championships. The focus for our season is the UAA championships."
The Eagles will return to competition next weekend, competing at Clemson University on Friday, Feb. 8 and Saturday, Feb. 9.
– By Alexander Del Re
alexander.del.re@emory.edu
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