The Emory Track and Field team continued their indoor season last weekend at the Bob Pollock Invitational hosted by Clemson University (S.C.). The Eagles faced NCAA Divisions I and II competition at the event. Emory Coach John Curtin was impressed with the performance from both the men’s and women’s teams, telling the Wheel that, “We saw some kids really step up and take some steps forward.”
Taking second place in the 5,000m run, senior Aileen Rivell achieved a personal best with her time of 17:48.06. Curtin was “blown away” by Rivell’s performance.
“The meet’s biggest surprise was Aileen Rivell in the 5,000m. She had never broken 18 minutes before, and she absolutely exploded to run 17:48. She ran a perfect race,” Curtin said.
Other impressive performances for the women’s team came from senior Julie Williamson, who placed third in the 800m run with a time of 2:14.11, and freshman Radhika Shah, who ran the 600m race in 1:41.82 and took third. Sophomore Erica Goldman placed second and set a personal best in the 400m dash with a time of 58.26. Goldman also anchored the 4x400 relay team that finished in fourth place with a time of 3:55.29. Sophomore Julia Leventhal and freshmen Dilys Osei and Ariana Newhouse made up the rest of the relay team. Goldman’s performances prompted Curtin to label her as the “outstanding athlete of the weekend.”
The men’s team earned a pair of first place finishes from senior Lukas Mees, with a time of 15:28.34 in the 5,000m run, and junior Ian McIsaac, with a time of 1:23.72 in the 600m event. Sophomore Daniel Pietsch placed second in the 400m run with a time of 49.40, and sophomore Max Brown placed fourth in the mile run with a time of 4:15.90. Senior Spencer Koh came within two centimeters of a school record in the pole vault; his jump of 4.45 was a personal best and earned a second place finish.
The Pollock Invitational is run on a flat 200m track, meaning that unlike the majority of indoor events that the teams will run on this semester, no conversion factor is added to normalize the times. Curtin explained the value of running on a track without these conversions:
“It was an opportunity for us to put up some fast times that weren’t going to be messed with," Curtin said. "Julie [Williamson] ran a little slower than last week, but her time ranked faster because of the lack of a conversion factor. It was really great for the sprinters, particularly the women’s 4x400 relay team, to run on the flat without conversion. It is really important for them mentally that the time they ran is the time that posted."
The Emory Track and Field team will continue their indoor season on Saturday, Feb. 6, when they travel to Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.) to compete in the Tiger Indoor Invitational.
