Track and Field Travel for Invite

The men’s and women’s Emory track and field teams continue their indoor seasons today, traveling to Winston Salem, N.C. to compete in the Hilton Garden Invitational.

The Eagles will bring around 30 track members, including the many of their higher caliber performers.

“We’re excited about this meet,” Head Coach John Curtin said. “There aren’t any indoor tracks in Georgia so we take every opportunity that we can get.”

The track is also the site of the national championship that takes place later in the season.

“It will be good to get a feel for what the track is like,” Curtin said. “As we’ll hopefully be competing there later this season.”

The meet will give junior Julie Williamson an opportunity to improve her 800-meter time and help her secure a spot in the National and UAA championship. Curtin is also excited to see how senior James Bassen performs who had a breakout personal best in the men’s weight throw last week at Birmingham Crossplex.

“[Bassen] has been training consistently, he’s gotten stronger, his technique has gotten better,” Curtin said. “It was just a matter of time before he got it together and had a big throw.”

The team is especially excited about the prospects of their men and women 4x400 meter relay teams, which are especially strong.

“We’re a young team,” Curtin said. “We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores. Anytime we have a chance to compete we have an opportunity for them to have a breakout meet.”

Due to a lack of strong Division III teams in the area, the meet will consist of mainly Division I and II schools.

“It’s a mixed bag,” Curtin said. “It’s really good for the top end kids, gives them a real challenge. For the developing kids, it is hard to get them even a spot to compete sometimes and can hinder their development.”

The team is excited for the meet and the rest of the still young track and field season.

“We’re all really excited to get on a good track where we will hopefully be competing at nationals and get some more personal best times and some more kids qualified [for nationals], ”Curtin said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

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