The men's and women's track and field teams hosted the Emory Classic this weekend. The men's squad finished in fifth place, and the women's squad finished first.
The men's team came out of the meet with three first-place finishes and 20 scoring performances and scored 91 total points.
University of Alabama in Huntsville finished in first place with a score of 125.5, followed by Buffalo State College (N.Y.) with 103, Taylor College (Fla.) in third (96.5), and Cumberlands College (Ky.) who placed fourth (92).
The men earned University Athletic Association (UAA)-best marks in four different events coming into the weekend, and continued to impress the crowd on both Friday and Saturday.
Freshman Adam Rabushka placed fourth in the 400-meter hurdle with a time of 56.10 seconds, the 19th-best time in Division III this season.
"As a team, we have been working very hard to have a successful outdoor season and to do well at the conference," Rabushka said. "As illustrated by our results at the meet, the hard work is paying off. With that, we will continue to work with the goal of always being as successful at conference."
Junior Brandon Bassell, sophomore Ankush Mohile and senior Stephen Ellwood all came in fourth in their respective events, setting the tone for the Classic.
"I honestly didn't think I had it in me," Mohile said. "We've been working really hard to make the transition from indoor season to outdoor as smooth as possible, and the results for the team as a whole over the course of this week have shown that to have been a success."
During the meet, sophomore James Bassen made the eighth-best mark in school history with a javelin throw with a distance of 55.29 meters.
"The combination of a strong work ethic with a devoted coaching staff really allows me to raise my level of performance to the next level," Bassell said. "I am very excited to see how I progress and continue to get better in the next few weeks leading up to outdoor UAA's. The goal is to win conference."
Freshman Young Jin Kim cleared the bar at 4.10 meters, earning a win in the pole vault.
Topping it all off was Emory's 4x800-meter relay team, consisting of junior William Matheson, freshman Andrew Hemingway, freshman Josh Traynelis and sophomore Patrick Crews, who won their race with a time of 8:02.00.
"The level of support and encouragement that goes on before and after each event is unreal," Bassel said. "When your teammates are as excited as you are when you PR (personal record), it's something special."
Bassen, junior Mike Moserowitz, junior Samuel Jean-Baptiste, junior Craig Melissas, freshman Jacob Seigel, junior Nick Cortellessa, freshman Taylor Jarl, and freshman Maxwell Hoberman were all among the top finishers for the Emory men. They placed in the hammer throw, long jump, 100-meter dash, 5,000-meter run, discus throw, 400-meter dash, shot put, 800-meter run and triple jump, respectively.
The women had more success, totaling 161 points throughout the weekend.
This was good for first place overall. Alabama-Huntsville finished in second with 129 total points and Columbus State finished in third with 91 points.
Kicking off Saturday strong was sophomore Debora Adjibaba, who broke the school record in the 200-meter dash, helping the Eagles land an impressive first-place finish in the women's standings at the meet.
She made a number of UAA-best marks and earned third and fourth best ratings made by a D-III competitor.
"It was a great meet," sophomore Stephanie Crane said. "A lot of people set personal bests and started the season off really well."
Adjibaba, junior Pollara Cobb, senior Kaele Leonard and junior Morgan Monroe came together as a 4x100-meter relay team and recorded a time of 47.76 second, the best in the UAA and second across all Division III relays coming into the Classic.
Monroe continued by placing second in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles with the eighth-fastest mark of 14.86 seconds in D-III this season.
Crane earned two first-place finishes, placing at fourth-best in school history, best in the UAA and fifth among all Division III competitors in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:41.49.
"I personally had the opportunity to race against a former Brandeis All American 1,500 runner, which was very unique and exciting," Crane said. "Though I did not set a personal best in the 1,500, I was less than a second off and cannot wait to improve throughout the outdoor season."
The 4x800-meter relay team consisting of Crane, senior Calley Edwards, freshman Julia Williamson and sophomore Alyssa Doolan came out fourth-best in the program's history with a time of 9:25.58.
First-place finishers for the Emory women included junior Meredith Lorch, senior Theresa Ford, sophomore Tamara Surtees and Leonard competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, high jump, 5,000-meter run and 400-meter dash, respectively.
Sophomores Elaina Kim and Hannah Moriarty also provided standout performances.
Kim brought in a win in the pole vault with a height of 3.35 meters, putting her at seventh-best in the team's history, while Moriarty earned a victory in the 10,000-meter run with a mark of 38:47.44, ranking her as best by a UAA competitor and 13th in D-III.
A number of other women came out as top performers, including Ford in the javelin throw and discus throw, Williamson in the 800-meter run, sophomore Electra Korn in the 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Ulrica Tull in the hammer throw, junior Khadijah Ameen in the long jump and triple jump and freshman Janay Harris in the shot put.
The Eagles' 4x400-meter relay finished the meet off with a sixth-place finish (4:03.60).
Emory's track and field teams will be back in action this weekend competing in two separate meets.
The squad will be split between the Tiger Track Classic at Auburn University (Ala.) and the Duke Invitational at Duke University (N.C.).
The meets will take place on Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6.
– By Nicola Braginsky
Photo courtesy of Emory Athletics
